Click here to read the most straight-forward and easy-to-understand analysis and explanation of why the HealthCare.gov launch went so badly. If you don’t want to read the whole article, which is actually very short, here are some nuggets:
“First, this magnitude of failure is a career risk for someone (and he’s usually working in IT). Second, failure allows project detractors to thrive.”
And,
“We preach testing and QA for systems, but let’s face it: when project timelines get tight, stuff can get “thrown over the wall” just to meet deadline.”
And,
“There were 55 different contractors for this project. When congressional hearings commenced, no one asserted a “lead role,” and it’s still unclear who ultimately was responsible for the project.”
Lastly,
“At some point, project managers have to freeze enhancements so projects can be fully tested and released. Apparently, there were late calls for enhancements just weeks before healthcare.gov went live.”
The author of the article is Mary E. Shacklett president of Transworld Data, a technology research and market development firm.