""The NCA recognizes and understands the problems these legacy IT systems present. A lack of investment in IT infrastructure means the NCA is burdened with technical debt - that is, the increasing cost of replacing outdated systems when fast solutions have been prioritized over long-term solutions," the report said. The watchdog argues that the NCA has also been slow to fully embrace the benefits of cloud-based technology, which has adverse practical consequences."
""For example, personnel can't automatically transfer data between computer systems operating on each of the three security tiers of the Government Security Classifications Policy," the report states. "This is a significant limitation, given the sensitivity of some of the material the NCA routinely handles.""
"In 2015, HMICFRS found the NCA faced "very significant challenges concerning science and technology" as a result of historical under-investment. At the time, the watchdog found poor connectivity between different information systems, scant mobile computing capability, and fragile critical applications. "This all has a materially detrimental effect on the NCA's efficiency and effectiveness," the report adds."
The NCA targets serious and organized crime and launched a National Data Exploitation Capability in 2018 as a five-year programme. Inspectors found many IT systems remain outdated and unfit for purpose, with the organisation carrying technical debt from prioritising short-term fixes over long-term infrastructure investment. Slow adoption of cloud technology creates practical limitations, including an inability to automatically transfer data across the three Government Security Classification tiers. The NCA inherited much of its IT from predecessor agencies and showed little progress moving off legacy systems since 2013, resulting in poor connectivity, limited mobile capability, and fragile critical applications that hinder effectiveness.
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