From System Wrappers to System Value: How Organisations Build Legacy and How to Untangle It
- jordizwart
- Apr 12
- 3 min read
Just like ICT systems gradually evolve into complex, layered constructions full of ‘wrappers’, organisations also build up their own legacy. Tasks, responsibilities and structures accumulate—often with the best intentions—but the result is an inefficient system that drifts further and further from the original customer promise. Nowhere is this more evident than in the public sector. Take youth care, for example, where fragmentation and accumulated mandates obscure the actual mission. It’s time to start systematically untangling.
The ICT Metaphor: A System of Wrappers
In the 1980s and 1990s, the phenomenon of ICT legacy emerged: a customer or order system that started as a simple core but was gradually surrounded by layer upon layer of new functionality. Each layer was built ‘around’ the core without ever fundamentally revisiting it. The wrappers seemed pragmatic at first, but over time they led to rigid, high-maintenance and costly infrastructures.
Some software firms even built additional wrappers around these systems: integration layers, dashboards, portals; treating symptoms instead of modernising the core. The foundation itself was rarely addressed because “it still works fine.” That is, until maintenance became impossible, customers became frustrated, and costs spiraled.
Organisational Legacy: When Policy Accumulates
This dynamic is not unique to ICT. Within organisations, especially public implementing agencies, we see how policy, legislation, and operations are layered on top of each other. A new law? A new department is created. A policy shift? Add another process. A social necessity? Launch a temporary pilot that eventually becomes permanent.
Just like software systems, these organisations evolve into structures where the whole is less than the sum of its parts. The original goals, often clear, customer-oriented, and efficient, become buried under layers of organisational complexity.
Youth Care as a Case Study: Fragmentation Through Policy Wrappers
Youth care is a telling example. Driven by political intentions and societal urgency, countless chain partners have emerged, each with their own role, funding and accountability. Municipalities, child protection services, community teams, care providers, specialist organisations: the landscape is fragmented. Not because people are doing a bad job, but because the system has been built as a patchwork.
Like legacy ICT, this fragmentation originated from logical, well-meaning decisions. But today, it is a serious obstacle. Professionals face overwhelming administrative burdens, parents get lost in the maze, and children receive delayed care. And: costs continue to rise.
Time to Untangle: Return to System Value
The challenge is clear: not more wrappers, but untangling. Not enlarging the system, but simplifying it. This takes courage: the willingness to let go of what once seemed wise. The discipline to measure what truly works. The honesty to say, “this component no longer contributes meaningfully to our societal goals.”
This is not a call for blind cost-cutting or centralisation. It is a call for system analysis and redesign. For realigning execution with citizen value, cost control and operational feasibility.
What Can Organisations Learn from ICT Architecture?
Modern ICT architects build modular systems: with a clear core, standardised interfaces and a strong focus on the end user. Why shouldn’t organisations do the same? Break down the silos. Identify the core. Design for collaboration. And, most importantly, measure whether the system still serves its purpose.
Final Thought
Legacy is not a mistake. It is the natural result of growth, ambition, and change. But if we want to deliver value today, we must be willing to untangle yesterday. Only then can we build systems, both digital and organisational, that are truly fit for the future.
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