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Is there a technical breakdown anywhere that talks about the specific technical challenges, such as which specific legacy systems were interfaced with? If there
by 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 agoThe 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.