Technical Debt Remediation
We’re reimagining how we address aging technology to pave the way for the future of digital government.
We’ll get there by modernizing our technology infrastructure and rebuilding a foundation to develop new ways of delivering government services digitally. Along the way, we will reduce our digital footprint by retiring outdated and unsupported systems that are part of the technical debt accumulated over decades. Our Tech Debt Digital Guide is a look at the work currently underway and our plans for 2024.
Technical (tech) debt is the cost of maintaining legacy technology - a challenge faced by the public and private sectors. The state has an estimated $465 million in tech debt—the cost of equipment and staff time to keep unsupported and insecure older technology running to deliver services—stemming from aging infrastructure, end-of-life applications, and systems with security vulnerabilities. When it isn’t addressed, the consequences can be severe, and its impacts stretch across organizations.
The State of Colorado cannot advance digital government services with outdated and unsupported legacy systems.
The tech debt remediation portfolio launched in July 2022 with three main pillars:
Decommissioning the mainframe was the top priority. It was accomplished in July 2023 when operations and applications on the state-owned mainframe were moved to the cloud.
Moving the state from a leased data center (eFORT) to a state-owned data center and the cloud.
Replacing hundreds of outdated and unsupported servers.
The tech debt remediation portfolio launched the second phase in 2024 with two additional pillars:
Enterprise Identity Services Upgrade
ServiceHub Phase 3
As we work to think differently about the creation of a digital government with state services accessible to all, we are continuing to add projects to our tech debt portfolio that will allow us to modernize our technology infrastructure.
Why are we doing this?
Reduces cost to maintain outdated and unsupported systems
Reduces security risk
Reduces system outages, ensuring consistent access to state services
Create a solid foundation for the state's digital government future
Improve access to state services for all Coloradans
