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Yes, this explains why every Silicon Valley web company needs $840,000,000 in funding too before they can serve a small percentage of the US population. Oh wait

Yes, this explains why every Silicon Valley web company needs $840,000,000 in funding too before they can serve a small percentage of the US population. Oh wait.

threeseed 12y ago
Do you really think this is in any way comparable to a web company ? The project was never about just the website. It is the huge amounts of behind the scenes integration with legacy systems. Some of which may require specialist development experience which never comes cheap.
- jdjdjdidjd 12y ago
  I agree that this is not a typical web company project, but if you read the report, a lot of that money was for naught. http://blogs.marketwatch.com/health-exchange/2014/07/30/gao-to-point-finger-at-managers-for-obamacare-debacle-report-says/ http://blogs.marketwatch.com/health-exchange/2014/07/30/gao-... "Confusing and constantly changing marching orders from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services managers will get the blame for last year’s HealthCare.gov debacle under an independent government review, the Associated Press said Wednesday."
  - threeseed 12y ago
    >a lot of that money was for naught You've provided no evidence of this. Including that article. I am just disputing your assertion that this is comparable to your typical Silicon Valley web company who rarely have to deal with legacy systems. Not whether it was a well run project.
- karmelapple 12y ago
  Is there a technical breakdown anywhere that talks about the specific technical challenges, such as which specific legacy systems were interfaced with? If there were real technical challenges, there was likely a risk register of some sort tracked by project management for this contractor, which would have listed any major technical issues like that.
  - beat 12y ago
    The legacy systems were on a state-by-state basis, so such a list would be exhaustive. At the federal level, it had to tie to IRS, FBI, INS, SSA, Medicare, Medicaid, and others. Each of these systems have their own extensive security rules as well, so something like authenticating users is a real pain. And there's fraud potential too. On top of that, consider that the system needs to serve populations that are, shall we say, less sophisticated in the ways of technology and finance than the average startup's customer base? When I worked on a state system, we called it the "Amish problem", because our state has a significant Amish population. There are people who don't read. People who don't speak English. People who are absolutely terrified of authorities. People who have religious beliefs that isolate them from computers. It's difficult and ugly.

Yes, this explains why every Silicon Valley web company needs $840,000,000 in funding too before they can serve a small percentage of the US population. Oh wait.

threeseed 12y ago

Do you really think this is in any way comparable to a web company ? The project was never about just the website. It is the huge amounts of behind the scenes integration with legacy systems. Some of which may require specialist development experience which never comes cheap.

jdjdjdidjd 12y ago
I agree that this is not a typical web company project, but if you read the report, a lot of that money was for naught. http://blogs.marketwatch.com/health-exchange/2014/07/30/gao-to-point-finger-at-managers-for-obamacare-debacle-report-says/ http://blogs.marketwatch.com/health-exchange/2014/07/30/gao-... "Confusing and constantly changing marching orders from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services managers will get the blame for last year’s HealthCare.gov debacle under an independent government review, the Associated Press said Wednesday."
- threeseed 12y ago
  >a lot of that money was for naught You've provided no evidence of this. Including that article. I am just disputing your assertion that this is comparable to your typical Silicon Valley web company who rarely have to deal with legacy systems. Not whether it was a well run project.
karmelapple 12y ago
Is there a technical breakdown anywhere that talks about the specific technical challenges, such as which specific legacy systems were interfaced with? If there were real technical challenges, there was likely a risk register of some sort tracked by project management for this contractor, which would have listed any major technical issues like that.
- beat 12y ago
  The legacy systems were on a state-by-state basis, so such a list would be exhaustive. At the federal level, it had to tie to IRS, FBI, INS, SSA, Medicare, Medicaid, and others. Each of these systems have their own extensive security rules as well, so something like authenticating users is a real pain. And there's fraud potential too. On top of that, consider that the system needs to serve populations that are, shall we say, less sophisticated in the ways of technology and finance than the average startup's customer base? When I worked on a state system, we called it the "Amish problem", because our state has a significant Amish population. There are people who don't read. People who don't speak English. People who are absolutely terrified of authorities. People who have religious beliefs that isolate them from computers. It's difficult and ugly.