How would you feel if the computers you had
to use for work were older than you are?
On May 25, 2016, the US Government Accountability
Office released a report about the state of
technology in various departments within the
US government. The result was pretty shocking.
Multiple agencies rely heavily on equipment
that is extremely out of date. The line in
the report that got the most attention was
this one: the Department of Defense uses eight
inch floppy disks in a legacy system that
coordinates the operational functions of the
nation’s nuclear forces. For those of you
old enough to remember floppy disks, you know
this is seriously ancient tech. The DoD uses
an IBM Series 1 Computer, which first became
available in 1976. According to the report,
that’s not even the oldest tech in the department.
The DoD itself says that the age of its system
is 53 years. That dates back to the year President
John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Given than
consumers are told to expect that their computers
will need replacing every 3 to 5 years, this
sounds pretty unbelievable. So what gives?
Why are such critical systems running on unsupported
hardware? For one thing, these systems are
unique. You can’t just pop over to the local
computer store and buy a copy of MS Nukes.
Legacy systems are difficult to update. It
often requires creating new programming from
scratch on newer computer systems and different
computer languages. This is time-consuming
and expensive. If you can keep your old legacy
hardware and software working, it’s tempting
to do so. But the flip side is that the equipment
and software you depend upon may go obsolete.
Eventually, you may find it impossible to
replace a worn out piece of equipment simply
because no companies are producing new versions
of it. And it’s hard to find people who
know how to maintain code in computer languages
that haven’t been used in decades. Department
of Defense representatives say that they intend
to upgrade many of its computer systems by
the end of fiscal year 2017. That includes
portable and desktop terminals as well as
data storage. No more floppy disks! That’s
good news, but the Government Accountability
Office report stresses that more needs to
be done across other agencies, such as the
Treasury Department. The equipment, software
and even computer languages running many critical
systems are obsolete. And there are no rules
in place to require agencies to identify outdated
systems that need an upgrade.
What do you think is more important, avoiding
obsolescence or making sure a system works
properly? Let us know! And don’t forget
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