SSA's modernization plan risks future Web services

The Social Security Administration risks losing the ability to assist citizens with retirement benefits, disability claims and other services via the Internet if it does not act to ensure its planned technology overhaul can support ever-changing file formats, an SSA advisory panel and some industry officials said.

To prepare for an onslaught of retiring baby boomers, the agency, which will celebrate its 75th anniversary on Aug. 14, is replacing many of its 30-year-old mainframe databases with modern equipment. In May, Social Security's Future Systems Technology Panel handed the SSA commissioner recommendations that raised concerns about a lack of flexibility in the redesign that could render the agency unable to deliver government services through future Web-based applications. The report is publicly available on request, but SSA has not posted it online.

The panel cited a paper that the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which advocates for open markets and nonproprietary systems, submitted to the advisers, urging SSA to stop the transition and reconsider its decision to operate the new databases in a mainframe environment. CCIA represents mainframe competitors.

The National Research Board aired similar concerns in a 2007 analysis of Social Security's e-government strategy.

The technology committee opposed suspending the ongoing renovations, but stated it "has concerns about the long-term ability of the new architecture to support modern, Web-based technologies in the future." The panel, which was established in 2008, provides independent advice to SSA on ensuring the practicality of its IT environment five to 10 years down the road.

SSA is in the midst of moving from a series of homegrown, proprietary databases but not necessarily away from the nearly obsolete COBOL software that operates them, critics said. The databases house information on all Social Security recipients. If the IT refresh fails, then Americans' retirement information potentially could be stored in formats indecipherable to newer tools.

Social Security should create a plan for evolving its data formats to meet the changing needs of the agency and its customers, the panel wrote. The advisers suggested SSA consult outside experts to review the new system's planned structure and adjoining applications "to achieve the maximum degree of openness and flexibility to allow the new data architecture to support future service delivery requirements."

The committee said it is critical the IT community and business managers throughout Social Security -- not just IT managers -- cooperate to formulate a comprehensive systems development roadmap. Input from the agency's financial office is important to ensure IT systems align with SSA's business priorities, the report stated.

CCIA officials praised the panel for listening to the group's suggestions and agreed with the report's recommendation to let outside specialists assess whether SSA's current designs are suitable for delivering online services over the long run. The industry group said it is essential the experts were independent of SSA, not paid contractors. The best option would be for the National Research Council to follow up on its 2007 report, CCIA officials said.

The association also concurred with the panel's advice that Social Security develop a strategic blueprint that focuses on making sure databases and other applications produce what SSA needs.

"Despite years of analysis and debate, SSA has still not adopted a plan that will allow it to shift to a true multichannel delivery model that combines its large bricks-and-mortar network of offices with a full-services online presence," Daniel O'Connor, CCIA's director of competition and telecommunications policy, said on Tuesday. "We call upon SSA to engage in this process with the appropriate sense of urgency and with the utmost transparency."

Social Security officials responded in a statement that they deliver safe, reliable and cost-effective IT services to the American public. "As an example, we have a robust infrastructure and a growing suite of over 30 e-services that offer the public, businesses and other government agencies direct access to SSA services via the Internet, telephone automation and direct data exchange. Our e-service success is apparent from positive customer survey results and our high volume of transactions," they stated. "Our enterprise architecture has evolved considerably over our many decades of computing, and it will continue to evolve based on our business needs and best-value technology choices."