HHS asks appropriators for $15M to retire legacy mainframe systems; lawmakers press for timeline and cost detail

Deputy Commissioner Sarah Stolt of the Department of Health and Human Services told the Appropriations - Human Resources Division that the department is requesting $15,000,000 to remediate "technical debt" — legacy software and systems tied to the state mainframe — and to migrate data and processes off unsupported platforms.

"When we're talking about technical debt, we're not we're not talking about the laptops that you touch and feel, we're not talking about a mouse or a keyboard," Stolt said. "We're talking about the 2 31 applications that are needed to deliver core services to the people of North Dakota." She said the $15 million request targets 27 applications the department considers legacy systems and a larger set of processes and integrations that must be rebuilt or retired.

Committee members pressed Stolt and state IT officials for specifics about what the money would buy, how fast the work could proceed, and whether the funds would be one-time or ongoing. Stolt described the request as largely cleanup of deferred work that should have been budgeted when new systems were procured. She said some retirements will be funded from a mix…