5 ms·

Malice is very unlikely. If I had to guess, maintaining interoperability with legacy systems probably played a role.

by eli 11y ago

r00fus 11y ago
Which points to corruption and inability to control your vendors (i.e., regulatory capture). Ultimately in large organizations like this that are arguably well funded, the answer often lies in corruption (and not necessarily just the bureaucracy, but also the legislators who earmark crazy stuff like specific vendors and specifications that are handpicked for their favorite funders).
- cordite 11y ago
  Sounds like the DoD asking for bids for a support for a product, which can only be legally fulfilled by the authors of the product--instead of considering replacing the product where more than one can actually bid for it.
  - icebraining 11y ago
    Sounds like the DoD asking for bids for a support for a product, which can only be legally fulfilled by the authors of the product Why can it only be fulfilled by the authors?
    - cordite 11y ago
      Because the authors don't have a contract licensing program for consultants
kevin_thibedeau 11y ago
There wasn't that much legacy. The first web based form was rolled out in 2000-2001. Candidates wouldn't need to have credentials that worked on the legacy back end services. I wouldn't put it past them that they did this on purpose to have an easy route into online accounts since EO12333 gives them a blank check to do whatever they want when conducting a background investigation. They don't even have to line up for a rubber stamp from FISA.
- dredmorbius 11y ago
  You're assuming there are no legacy back-end systems that those Web systems interact with. Not a particularly valid assumption.
  - kevin_thibedeau 11y ago
    OPM couldn't produce my paper SF-86 submitted from right before the switch to the web based system when I requested it a couple years ago. i.e. they never transcribed it for electronic storage, meaning there was no critical back end legacy in place to begin with. Candidates would never have credentials to a back end system in any case and wouldn't need to be recorded in a global "users" table. The process only requires logging into the front end for editing, review, and submission. Once that is complete there's nothing more to do. That doesn't require any sort of integration.

Malice is very unlikely. If I had to guess, maintaining interoperability with legacy systems probably played a role.

by eli 11y ago

Malice is very unlikely. If I had to guess, maintaining interoperability with legacy systems probably played a role.

Which points to corruption and inability to control your vendors (i.e., regulatory capture). Ultimately in large organizations like this that are arguably well funded, the answer often lies in corruption (and not necessarily just the bureaucracy, but also the legislators who earmark crazy stuff like specific vendors and specifications that are handpicked for their favorite funders).

cordite 11y ago
Sounds like the DoD asking for bids for a support for a product, which can only be legally fulfilled by the authors of the product--instead of considering replacing the product where more than one can actually bid for it.
- icebraining 11y ago
  Sounds like the DoD asking for bids for a support for a product, which can only be legally fulfilled by the authors of the product Why can it only be fulfilled by the authors?
  - cordite 11y ago
    Because the authors don't have a contract licensing program for consultants

kevin_thibedeau 11y ago

There wasn't that much legacy. The first web based form was rolled out in 2000-2001. Candidates wouldn't need to have credentials that worked on the legacy back end services. I wouldn't put it past them that they did this on purpose to have an easy route into online accounts since EO12333 gives them a blank check to do whatever they want when conducting a background investigation. They don't even have to line up for a rubber stamp from FISA.

dredmorbius 11y ago
You're assuming there are no legacy back-end systems that those Web systems interact with. Not a particularly valid assumption.
- kevin_thibedeau 11y ago
  OPM couldn't produce my paper SF-86 submitted from right before the switch to the web based system when I requested it a couple years ago. i.e. they never transcribed it for electronic storage, meaning there was no critical back end legacy in place to begin with. Candidates would never have credentials to a back end system in any case and wouldn't need to be recorded in a global "users" table. The process only requires logging into the front end for editing, review, and submission. Once that is complete there's nothing more to do. That doesn't require any sort of integration.