The Department of Finance uses a platform for their end of life software that supports their central payroll processing. This platform requires software to work for over ten years in the end-of-life phase. And the government claims there is over $100m worth of applications that need to be upgraded to new platforms or have their applications removed altogether. The technology is not as advanced and secure as it is claimed to be, and many of the applications used are over 10 years old. We’re not talking here something like trying out what appears to be an expired coupon for the best casino bonus offer only to find that it still works!

The Airports Authority of Ireland does not allow the upgrading of a number of applications that it uses, and those applications do not support end-of-lifes. These applications have already been superseded, and they currently only run a few more months.

The Department of Justice has moved out of their ‘Business Data Resource Group’ into the Public Security Services Unit. And the Airports Authority of Ireland has transferred their service management software into another platform.

The Department of Justice has over 300 applications that they use. They claim their ‘end of life’ software runs well over 5-7 years in the end-of-life phase. However the Airports Authority of Ireland has not updated any of their applications at all. They say they have moved on to other platforms. The Department of Justice claim their applications are no longer supported by their vendor, and yet they are still being used.

Another government department that does not update their applications, including the complete ‘implementing agency’, is the Department of Health. They claim their software will run for the next 10-15 years, without any major updates.

Some job listings sites use the software that the Department of Finance uses in some instances. As of January 2017, they have not updated or verified their ‘end of life’ software. They claim it is currently in compliance.

The Department of Justice uses end-of-life technology in its new national consultation system. The new software that was supposed to replace the old applications, has been redesigned to use an unsupported platform. And in December 2015 the Department of Justice was fined by the European Commission for an incomplete software implementation that broke it. The software has not been updated since November 2010.

The Department of Justice refused to be interviewed or respond to requests from End-Of-Life Software Watch.

The Department of Justice has 15 applications that require upgrading to newer platforms. The Department of Finance has 3 applications that require upgrading. The Airports Authority of Ireland has 4 applications.

In general, the Government are ‘extremely late’ when it comes to updating or replacing their end-of-life technology.

Government Departments Test Their Software Only Once, & Nothing Else

Government departments test only once and do not test their software on a regular basis. They do not use end-of-life software that often to identify any possible weaknesses that they might not have found prior to purchasing the application. They do not test their application against other applications to find weaknesses in those applications. They do not test their applications against weak application versions in order to identify weak areas. They do not test their applications against new applications that they release.

Infographic Created by Computers Nationwide, Preferred Business Communication Services in Northern Illinois