5 ms·

> the web portal was only open on weekdays between 9am and 5pm eastern time. Most likely: they don't have anyone on call outside those hours for breakages, so

> the web portal was only open on weekdays between 9am and 5pm eastern time. Most likely: they don't have anyone on call outside those hours for breakages, so they only turn the system on during working hours.

dajohnson89 10y ago
The IRS has 79,890 employees. $12B annual budget. So... edit: Another comment linked to a good explanation as to why the site isn't up 24/7. TL;DR legacy COBOL that everyone is terrified of touching. Just in case the Secretary of Treasury is reading this: I, for one, would gladly have my tax dollars go to modernizing irs.gov. Oh wait, I just remembered healthcare.gov. Nevermind.
- WillyOnWheels 10y ago
  Most Healthcare dot gov website issues were resolved later. Don't exaggerate.
  - thesagan 10y ago
    Except that those issues were an un-exaggerated mess, originally. The emergency steps they took after launch pretty much proves the point.
  - dajohnson89 10y ago
    Washington Post reports that $319 million has been spent on healthcare.gov. Is that sane? Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2013/10/24/how-much-did-healthcare-gov-cost/?utm_term=.f24dcbaa1bc8 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2013/10/...
    - rtkwe 10y ago
      It was a hugely complex site that had to manage and connect to a large number of existing systems for each insurer that was part of the market place. It also had to be done in an extremely short time frame because the details of the site and it's operation weren't solid until the law was signed.
    - snowwrestler 10y ago
      Yes? Far more has been spent on Facebook and Twitter (for example), and they don't do anything nearly as important as providing health care coverage to people.
  - waterphone 10y ago
    My account still doesn't work and it won't let me continue further, claiming I do not exist.
sokoloff 10y ago
"Better not have any unplanned downtime" --> "Make it all planned downtime, then..."
- chimeracoder 10y ago
  You joke, but that's exactly it. Not letting people submit requests at all is a lot better than silently discarding requests due to unexpected errors.

dajohnson89 10y ago

The IRS has 79,890 employees. $12B annual budget. So... edit: Another comment linked to a good explanation as to why the site isn't up 24/7. TL;DR legacy COBOL that everyone is terrified of touching. Just in case the Secretary of Treasury is reading this: I, for one, would gladly have my tax dollars go to modernizing irs.gov. Oh wait, I just remembered healthcare.gov. Nevermind.

WillyOnWheels 10y ago
Most Healthcare dot gov website issues were resolved later. Don't exaggerate.
- thesagan 10y ago
  Except that those issues were an un-exaggerated mess, originally. The emergency steps they took after launch pretty much proves the point.
- dajohnson89 10y ago
  Washington Post reports that $319 million has been spent on healthcare.gov. Is that sane? Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2013/10/24/how-much-did-healthcare-gov-cost/?utm_term=.f24dcbaa1bc8 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2013/10/...
  - rtkwe 10y ago
    It was a hugely complex site that had to manage and connect to a large number of existing systems for each insurer that was part of the market place. It also had to be done in an extremely short time frame because the details of the site and it's operation weren't solid until the law was signed.
  - snowwrestler 10y ago
    Yes? Far more has been spent on Facebook and Twitter (for example), and they don't do anything nearly as important as providing health care coverage to people.
- waterphone 10y ago
  My account still doesn't work and it won't let me continue further, claiming I do not exist.

sokoloff 10y ago

"Better not have any unplanned downtime" --> "Make it all planned downtime, then..."

chimeracoder 10y ago
You joke, but that's exactly it. Not letting people submit requests at all is a lot better than silently discarding requests due to unexpected errors.