The Last Supper: Where Traditional System Integrators Ate and Missions Starved
Government SIs are Having their Blockbuster to Netflix Moment
There’s a moment before every era ends — a final gathering, a familiar ritual, a sense that things will always stay the same. In some ways, legacy system integrators today are seated at their own Last Supper. The contracts still flow, the bodies still bill, and the slide decks still get delivered. But just outside the room, the world is changing fast — and the model that once fed entire empires is quietly breaking down.
I grew up going to Blockbuster. For my family, Friday night meant picking out a movie and ordering a pizza. It was a ritual — the blue carpet, the plastic cases, the smell of microwaved popcorn near the checkout line. It felt like magic. But that magic didn’t last.
Today, Blockbuster is a relic. One remaining store survives in Oregon — more a nostalgic Airbnb stop than a functioning business. And it didn’t have to end that way. In 2000, Blockbuster had the chance to buy a scrappy upstart called Netflix for $50 million. They passed. At the time, they laughed Netflix out of the room. Why would they bet on a mail-order DVD service when they had thousands of stores, millions of loyal customers, and a cash machine built on late fees? But that was the problem: they were too confident, too comfortable, and too convinced that what worked yesterday would work forever. Their arrogance blinded them. Their complacency kept them chained to a model already cracking beneath them. And in ignoring the future, they signed their own death warrant.
That story should feel familiar to government system integrators today. The industry is filled with giants — companies with deep benches, decades of contracts, and entire business models built on labor and length of projects. But the market is shifting underneath them. Slowly, then suddenly. And the opportunity to evolve — or be left behind — is very real.
The Department of Government Efficiency — DOGE — isn’t just a punchline. It’s a signal. It represents the growing demand across government for delivery models that are faster, cheaper, and outcome-driven. Agencies are no longer willing to wait five years for capability (if they get capability at all!). They’re done paying for effort instead of results. And they’re looking closely at every dollar spent, asking: did this move the mission?
System integrators built their empires in a world where complexity was profitable. They sold time. They staffed up. They responded to every new requirement with a new labor category. But that world is fading — fast.
Government leaders are now demanding productized solutions: commercial software, automated workflows, and repeatable outcomes. They want faster financial decision making, supply delivered to the right place, at the right time, and in the right amount, and improved readiness — not ten-year modernization plans. And they want it delivered like a service, not like a construction project. In short, they want their Netflix. Most of the industry is still running Blockbuster.
Blockbuster didn’t lose because people stopped watching movies. It lost because it tied its value to the wrong thing. It monetized store leases and late fees. It built a revenue model on friction. Netflix removed the friction entirely — delivering movies at home, then streaming them instantly, predicting what users wanted before they even searched, and finally created their own content. Blockbuster could have owned that model. But it was too comfortable. Too slow. Too invested in the way things had always been done even when it went against their customers needs.
Today, many integrators are walking the same path. They define success by number of FTEs deployed. They sell complexity. They win by building from scratch — even when commercial solutions exist. They still think the business is about the store. Not the experience. And many integrators are still feasting at the long table of legacy delivery — unaware, or unwilling to admit, that this may be their Last Supper.
And the numbers make the case impossible to ignore. Nearly 81% of federal IT projects are behind schedule and 45% are over budget. The average major defense program takes eleven years to deliver its first set of capabilities — if it finishes at all. Yet inside those programs, much of the work is repetitive — re-creating common capabilities readily found in commercial solutions such as data pipelines, AI integrations, and workflow frameworks, instead of focusing on their unique knowledge to solve customer problems.
The results of the traditional system integrators speak for themselves. Here is why the traditional system integrator model no longer works — and hasn’t for some time.
1. It’s too slow for today’s missions.
The traditional SI model runs on multi-year timelines, phased requirements, and waterfall delivery. Meanwhile, threats move at software speed. Government leaders can’t wait three to five years for capability — they need insights and actions in minutes, not decades. Speed is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a strategic advantage. The old model simply can’t keep up.
2. It starts from scratch every time.
The classic SI playbook treats every project like it’s never been done before. New team, new codebase, new process. But across government, the same problems appear again and again — from logistics and finance to personnel readiness and data integration. Starting from zero isn’t innovation; it’s waste. Commercial software already solves 80% of these problems. Reuse isn’t a shortcut — it’s the new standard.
3. It monetizes effort instead of outcomes.
The SI business model rewards hours, not impact. Progress is measured by labor categories, not mission gains. But today’s government is asking different questions: How many decisions did this software accelerate? How many dollars were saved? How much risk was removed? If you’re not aligned to outcomes, you’re not in the conversation.
4. It avoids commercial software.
There’s an entrenched resistance to using proven tools — even when they already exist and work. Why? Because custom development keeps the labor model intact. But this only delays progress, increases risk, and drains resources. Leading with commercial software isn’t a shortcut — it’s a strategy. The future belongs to integrators who bring commercial platforms to the table, not paperwork.
5. It’s a magnet for the wrong kind of talent.
Top technologists want to build, not sit in meetings for five years. The legacy model attracts compliance managers over engineers, status trackers over problem solvers. As the demand for technical talent grows, SIs who can’t offer fast-moving, commercial software-led, mission-driven work will be left behind — both by customers and by their own workforce.
Those SIs that are willing to change, will win, and win big! Let’s be honest: this shift will mean fewer hours billed. Fewer slide decks. Fewer staff at the table. But it also means higher margins. Productized delivery and commercial software-first integration routinely deliver 2–3x margin improvements over traditional services work. Instead of chasing the next recompete, integrators can offer durable, reusable solutions with recurring value.
It also reduces risk. No more multi-year contracts that collapse under complexity. Productized delivery brings faster time-to-value, shorter delivery cycles, and stronger customer satisfaction. It builds trust — and scale. And it builds talent density. The best people want to work on problems that matter. They want impact. Not five-year roadmaps full of gate reviews.
Many system integrators will say, “We’re just delivering what the government asked for. They wanted level of effort. They wanted hourly billing.” But let’s be honest: it was often the system integrators — or the consultants advising them — who designed those models in the first place. The body-shop approach wasn’t an accident. It was a business strategy. And now that it’s no longer aligned with the mission, it’s time to own that truth — and evolve.
DOGE is just the beginning. The next generation of government leaders is digital-native, outcome-driven, and deeply skeptical of legacy models. They expect value on day one. They expect transparency. And they expect their partners to evolve.
For most, the room still feels warm. The pipeline is still full. But make no mistake — this is the Last Supper of the system integrator as we’ve known it. The chairs are still filled, but the menu has changed. The ones who stay too long will be left with crumbs. The ones who leave early to build something better will own the future.
The system integrators that have the courage to break from the old model — to stop billing by the hour, to stop solving the same problems from scratch, to lead with commercial software and deliver real outcomes — won’t just survive this shift. They’ll win. And they’ll win big. They’ll build leaner, faster, higher-margin businesses. They’ll attract the best talent. They’ll earn trust by delivering impact — not burn rates. And they’ll be the ones shaping the next era of government delivery, not clinging to the last one.
For those willing to leave the table before the Last Supper is over, there’s still time to cook something entirely new — and far more valuable.