![Obamacare and the Three Heads [UPDATED]](http://andstillipersist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/131119-131119-3_headed.jpg "Obamacare and the Three Heads [UPDATED]")
In a large-scale, well-managed IT project, there are three key roles that need to be filled by three different people who are each talented, qualified, tough-nosed, and given commensurate authority. Actual titles may vary a bit, but the roles themselves are well-known: Project Manager. This person manages the personnel (and sub-organizations) on the entire project; […]
The most valuable IT consultant is someone who stands athwart a failing software project, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it. (with apologies to William F. Buckley) After a flurry of posts over several weeks on the unfolding Healthcare.gov […]
I published a post over at Ace of Spades yesterday on what is likely to happen next with the Healthcare.gov development effort: So, what can you expect next? There are two basic courses that a project such as this takes at this point: oscillation or off-line. Oscillation is what happens when the developer continues to push […]
“Running the gauntlet” refers to a ceremony of passage, trial, or even execution wherein a person is forced to walk or run between two lines of people who are usually armed with clubs, whips, or other weapons. The people in the lines are then free to strike at the person running up the middle. […]
Much has come out in the past few days over the late, minimal, and unsuccessful testing done on Healthcare.gov before it was put into production. From what I’ve read so far, it was pretty appalling and highly unprofessional. Here is a slightly edited version of what I wrote several years ago, as part of my […]
[made some minor edits and corrected a few typos] A friend of mine, a staunch Obamacare supporter, made a comment the other day, saying in effect, “Since you Republicans are complaining about the lousy website launch, you must have already conceded the argument on healthcare reform itself.” Well, no. The current mess we find ourselves […]
There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. — Henry David Thoreau There is a pattern I commonly see in troubled or failing IT projects, a near-constant oscillation over a period of weeks in the system’s readiness and/or stability. It appears for a while that […]
The big news out of Washington in the past 24 hours is that the Healthcare.gov website has been turned over to one of the project contractors, and that Healthcare.gov will be up and working by the end of November — which is to say, in five (5) weeks. Jeffrey Zients, a former top White House official pulled back […]
[Made a few minor edits] [added an additional clip suggested by Jim Geraghty] There’s a running threat/gag in The Empire Strikes Back involving the hyperdrive of the Millennium Falcon. Various attempts are made to fix it, but it keeps not working, usually with Han Solo saying, “It’s not my fault!” Towards the very end of […]
Via Slashdot comes this slap-your-forehead story over at TechDirt: As you may have heard, Boulder, Colorado has been hit by massive flooding over the past week, and it’s been something of a mess. A local company, Falcon UAV, makers of special drones which are built for the government, approved by the FAA, and specialize in […]
