The great legacy escape: How government can finally break free
Aingaran Pillai
Founder and CEO, Zaizi
In the past month, we've kickstarted our initiative — "The Great Legacy Escape" — which shows how government can unshackle itself from its legacy processes and systems through digitisation, automation and AI.
The need to address legacy in government has always been present. But in recent years, the drumbeat to act has intensified.
Many government organisations still depend on unsupported, unpatched legacy systems. And the problem is growing.
The recent “State of Digital Government Review” said there are “deep systemic challenges” around legacy and under-digitisation in government organisations.
The number of high-risk, critical systems in central government increased by 26% from 2023 to 2024, according to the review.
Meanwhile, under-digitisation also persists. The review states:
only half of public services are digitised
very few services avoid manual processing altogether
many have a “digital veneer” but rely on inefficient and costly manual backend operations
It gives examples of how His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) handles 100,000 calls daily, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) processes 45,000 letters daily, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) manages over 500 paper-based services.
These aren’t just abstract numbers. For government organisations, they cause real-world frustrations.
Legacy processes — a barrier to a modern, joined-up digital government
The message is clear: clinging to legacy systems and making do with manual processes isn’t optional anymore. The costs, dangers and missed opportunities are too high.
Here’s what under-digitisation and legacy systems mean in practice for government departments:
High costs and inefficiency: If staff rely on physical forms, enter data by hand, or have cumbersome approval processes, it costs more, slows service delivery and increases error rates.
Unreliable and difficult to operate: They are challenging to maintain and rely on a shrinking pool of knowledgeable staff to operate, while the lack of software support leads to frequent failures.
Security and compliance risks: Outdated tech lacks basic security features, while paper-based processes are hard to track, secure, or audit— exposing agencies to data loss, theft, and security breaches.
Siloed, fragmented data and systems: Manual systems cause data duplication, inconsistencies, delays and ultimately poor data quality. The information also isn’t easily shareable between systems and teams.
Limited reporting and lack of data-driven insights: Low quality or locked-away data hinders effective reporting and prevents organisations from making data-driven decisions.
Frustrating user experience: Cumbersome and convoluted systems with poor usability and accessibility create a challenging experience for the end user.
Barriers to innovation: Legacy systems and manual processes prevent opportunities to use new and innovative technologies, like AI.
How suppliers can help with the government's legacy escape
Government can’t tackle the problem alone. The issues aren't just about the technical complexities around legacy — they’re also systemic, often tied to organisational culture, funding cycles, procurement constraints, and a shortage of specialist skills.
This is where organisations need support from industry, which can bring the necessary experience and expertise to navigate these complex environments.
We’ve helped several government agencies in the most sensitive national security areas digitise, automate and modernise legacy systems.
For example, we’ve helped the Home Office transition from its legacy processes into a secure digital platform. We also enabled Border Force to modernise its port scanning activities — work that allowed us to explore how AI could further improve operations.
We found that success depended on really understanding their existing landscape, building alignment across stakeholders and picking opportunities based on impact and user pain points — something that we’ve been able to do relatively quickly with our Transformation Day workshops.
A user-centred approach is key to ensuring solutions are used and effective for those who rely on them, while taking an agile and iterative approach allows the transition from legacy systems with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.
The benefits of modernisation are endless — streamlined operations, lower costs, stable systems, improved security, easier reporting and data-driven decision-making, seamless data sharing, a better user experience, and opening the door to innovation, such as AI.
The path to a modern, efficient and secure digital government is clear. It's just that some government departments need a little help to get started — and organisations like Zaizi are ready to do that.
