The IRS has loads of legacy IT — but it's not equipped to replace it

A report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), has criticized the IRS’s decision to close its ‘Technical Retirement Office’.

Tasked with "identifying, prioritizing, and executing the updating, replacing, or retiring of legacy systems, the office was retired in order to ‘strategically reduce the information technology footprint across the enterprise’ in 2021, and has not been replaced.

This has left the IRS with 107 legacy systems up for retirement, but only two have decommissioning plans in place, the report noted - potentially putting the department at risk of being attacked.

IRS disruption

The report outlines the organization's need for a program which could oversee the decommissioning of old IT systems. This comes after the IRS faced ‘disruption’ as a result of antiquated systems - some over 20 years old. Over 20% of software and 8% of hardware used by the IRS is classified as ‘legacy’, which means the deficiencies are deeply ingrained in its operation.

Technology is now undoubtedly at the heart of many organizations and businesses, but the cost of replacing ageing systems can be a burden for many. IRS IT infrastructure spending rose by 35% between 2019 and 2023 - which is only expected to rise until legacy systems are retired.

What are the risks?

The IRS is not alone in its reliance on aged software, a report from Dell showed over 70% of software used by Fortune 500 companies was developed 20 or more years ago. Outdated systems leave organizations vulnerable to data breaches and cybersecurity attacks, which costs companies over $1m on average. The expenses don’t stop there, with an estimated 60-80% of IT budgets on average going towards maintaining existing on-site hardware and legacy apps.

These systems aren’t just expensive for the organization, but for the planet too. Legacy infrastructure could be responsible for over one-third of overall businesses power consumption , making it difficult to meet sustainability targets.

Keeping infrastructure up to date helps to keep a business's data secure and lower costs.

Via The Register

More from TechRadar Pro

• Is your business being paralysed by legacy IT?
• Take a look at our best IT management tools
• We’ve examined the best cloud management software around today