PERSPECTIVE-I thought the LAUSD payroll system implementation failure was as bad as those types of things get … until the rollout of the Affordable Care Act enrollment website.
Whether you support Obamacare or not, a nation that can send humans and satellites into space – and even beyond the solar system – should be able to get a website up and running with a minimum of problems.
Massive websites are not new. There are government and private sector applications that routinely crunch high volumes of traffic 24/7. The IRS, SSA, large banks, etc., process large volumes of user inquiries and transactions every day. Rest assured that even routine updates are tested thoroughly before they go live. New system implementations are handled under war room type conditions. I have been through my share of them.
The Affordable Care Act website might be unique in the number of interfaces among insurers and federal databases, but the level of complexity and, more importantly, the logic should be similar to what any large, complex organization would encounter. The volume, although heavy, pales in comparison to what internet providers experience.
It wasn’t as if the system had not been tested. It was, or at least to a degree where serious problems in volume-handling capabilities and processes were apparent. It was the failure to apply the brakes when even the lowliest geeks realized it was not going to perform anywhere near what was required.
Why didn’t someone step up and delay implementation?
According to CNN, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explained why the launch was not delayed: “There are people in this country who have waited for decades for affordable health coverage for themselves and their families ... So waiting is not really an option.”
Well, General Custer didn’t want to wait for reinforcements when he ordered his ill-fated charge at the Little Bighorn.
What’s a few months when people have waited decades?
Why didn’t Sebelius give the president fair warning?
Either the president was misinformed or simply did not grasp the severity of the debacle when he described it as a “glitch.”
The government is now calling in a team of techies to deal with it, but here’s the problem: they will be dealing with a system loaded with patches understood only by a burned-out set of programmers.
Making corrections or installing improvements around these patches is brain surgery. We are likely talking about custom-tailored fixes, not solutions that neatly slot in to the existing program routines. And then there is more testing, followed by more fixes, and then more testing. Even then, maintaining a jerry-rigged system will be problematic for years to come.
It would be wise to delay implementation until after the holidays and get it right.
It might also be wise to fire Sebelius for this national embarrassment.
(Paul Hatfield is a CPA and serves as Treasurer for the Neighborhood Council Valley Village. He blogs at Village to Village, contributes to CityWatch and can be reached at: [email protected]) –cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 86
Pub: Oct 25, 2013