This summer, Montana is expected to retire a mainframe that has supported state agencies for decades. The state moved remaining applications to the cloud to finally discontinue use of the mainframe.
Montana’s freedom from its mainframe is somewhat rare among states. Many state governments still rely upon aging mainframes for citizen services. Mainframes are deeply embedded in many government functions ranging from motor vehicle registration and Medicaid eligibility to tax assessments. Mainframes are even more pervasive than they may first appear: Nearly a quarter of state CIOs polled by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers indicated in a 2020 survey that they still provided local governments with mainframe support.
