Application modernization integrating flexible architectures

Challenge: In 2018, GSA had 88 IT applications in need of modernization. These applications had cumbersome, outdated user interfaces and were difficult to connect to other systems. GSA would have had to modernize these legacy systems in piecemeal fashion, as funding became available in annual budgets.

Approach & Outcomes: With TMF support, the team pursued a full and faster transformation, including at the hardware, database, and application layers. Across three years, a cross-functional team at GSA employed agile methodologies. GSA:

• Created a set of standard target technologies for all future application migrations
• Generated various playbooks that guided the modernization of ten additional GSA applications and remain accessible to all agencies

This investment:

• Allowed GSA greater flexibility in recruiting talent
• Is expected to lower operations costs, improve quality of applications, and establish a repeatable process for modernizing legacy applications that can be used across government