"Mass. IT project is latest black eye for Deloitte" by Megan Woolhouse and Beth Healy | Globe Staff, October 07, 2013
In its brochures, Deloitte Consulting proclaims a record of “smooth implementations” of complex technology projects. But in courts, school systems, and government agencies in several states, the roll-out of computer systems built by the global consulting firm has proved to be anything but smooth.
From Florida and Pennsylvania to California, multimillion-dollar projects managed by the New York company have come in behind schedule, over budget, and riddled with problems. It is a situation that has been repeated in Massachusetts this summer; Deloitte was two years late and $6 million over budget in delivering a system to manage unemployment claims, and, separately, the Department of Revenue fired the firm for falling behind on a $114 million tax-system overhaul mired in errors.
In Florida’s Miami-Dade County, school officials fired Deloitte in 2009, partway through an $84 million contract to overhaul the district’s computer system. After paying Deloitte $30 million and having “virtually nothing” usable they could rescue, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said, the district turned the project over to its in-house technology department, which completed it on time and within the budget.
“After much review the best thing to do was terminate Deloitte, and we did with a vengeance,” Carvalho said. “We cut out the middleman.”
That is not the first time Florida has been f***ed by Deloitte.
In a statement, Deloitte defended its efforts on public contracts, saying it has worked with agencies in 45 states.
“Thousands of these projects have been delivered without incident and we acknowledge the challenges we’ve had with certain engagements,’’ Dan Prince, a Deloitte spokesman, said. “That said, we’re proud of what we’ve done in this segment and would not want these few projects to be held up as reflective of our entire body of work.’’
The problems with several of Deloitte’s systems also spotlight the difficulties that state and local governments often have in managing large technology projects, contracting specialists said. Few agencies have the will to end a project that is going badly, often fearing they will not find another firm to take over the job.
In Massachusetts, for instance, state labor officials agreed to pay Deloitte an extra $4 million to keep working after the firm missed its first deadline to deliver the system in 2011.
This at a time when taxes were rising and services were being cut.
Eric Kimberling, a consultant who has testified in disputes over large technology contracts, said such projects are frequently riddled with problems because public officials underestimate what it takes to complete them and consultants “lowball the cost to get their foot in the door.”
Many government agencies have to get halfway through a contract before “they know what it’s really going to take to get a project done right,” said Kimberling, managing partner of Panorama Consulting Solutions of Denver.
A project for California’s massive court system shows how bad it can get.
Officials hired Deloitte and another firm in 2003 to create a statewide case management system, connecting 58 county courts, as well as appellate courts. By 2010, Deloitte was running the entire job, and the contract had been amended 102 times, ballooning in cost to $310 million from $33 million, according to a state audit.
This as Californians face rising taxes and austerity cuts.
Worse, the cost to install the software had been wildly underestimated. The total price tag soared to a projected $1.9 billion, so expensive that the courts could not afford to put the system into operation....
What percent increa$e is that co$t overrun?
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NEXT DAY UPDATE: Deloitte Registry deal defended
Oh, great! They got the the RMV contract! And you didn't think they could get much worse.
Related: Deloitte software mess shows state’s vulnerability in IT
It looks like taxpayers and citizens that are the ones mo$t vulnerable, Globe. Deloitte still got paid!
And whadda ya' mean their Florida $y$tem is phoqued up?
"Fla. unemployment website designed by Deloitte also draws complaints" by John Kennedy | Palm Beach Post, October 19, 2013
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida unemployment compensation system’s new, $63 million website has left a trail of frustrated users, filling Facebook and Twitter with tales of online malfunctions and help lines that don’t. The system was developed by Deloitte, the same firm responsible for the updated Massachusetts benefits system that also has been the subject of complaints.
Ever notice the only software that seems to work is that employed by banks?
“I’m still stumped,’’ Cathy Boyce, an unemployed architect, said on Thursday of the Florida system. She spent two days trying to submit her weekly claim for a $275 payment.
“I completed my form. It responded that it was ‘pending,’ then the screen sent me to ‘workforce registration.’ But it wouldn’t accept my PIN number,’’ Boyce said.
Boyce then picked up the phone. “I’ve been calling their help number since 7:30 a.m. It’s been busy,’’ she said. ‘‘I can’t figure it out.’’
Boyce isn’t alone.
No, she's not, even though our Labor Secretary Goldstein implied the complaints were only one person.
“I’ve never seen a system with so many breakdowns,’’ said Jerry Grenough of Jupiter, an auditor attempting to file his own unemployment claim.
That was before the rollout of Obamacare?
Florida’s CONNECT system, unveiled Monday, was developed by Deloitte Consulting, which has had problems in recent years with technology contracts in California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts, state officials unveiled a $46 million unemployment benefits system created by Deloitte that was two years behind schedule, $6 million over budget, and plagued with a host of glitches that have caused problems for thousands seeking benefits. In many cases, the problems echo Florida’s, as claimants wait on hold for hours or are disconnected when they call the state office for help.
Related:
"Two months after losing her job of 18 years and filing an unemployment claim, Karen Lucas had still not received benefits. Her savings depleted, she began to grow desperate, worrying how she would afford the insulin she needs daily to treat her diabetes."
And it took her how long to get them?
It's all plugged up.
Concerned about the ongoing barrage of complaints, the Massachusetts Senate’s Committee on Post Audit and Oversight has scheduled an Oct. 28 hearing on problems with the rollout.
A legislative committee also moved this week to create a special commission to investigate how state information technology contracts are awarded and managed.
Through the u$ual favoriti$m, I would imagine.
New York-based Deloitte LLP is one of the nation’s largest management and information-technology consulting firms. It’s among a handful of corporate giants providing information technology services to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Internal Revenue Service, as part of the Oct. 1 rollout of health exchanges.
Oh my goodness, they DID HAVE a HAND in Obamacare!
Deloitte is represented in Tallahassee by high-powered lobbyist Brian Ballard, who also lobbies for US Sugar and several Palm Beach County cities.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said the CONNECT system is ‘‘operational’’ and successfully received claims from more than 50,000 Floridians in its first two days.
“Nonetheless, and as expected, some users have encountered delays and problems accessing the system,’’ said the spokeswoman, Jessica Sims. ‘‘Some of those issues are technical and some are an inevitable result of user acclimation to a new online interface.’’
What do you guys do, read from a f***ing script? You all sound the same!
She said the most common problems encountered involve trouble entering PIN numbers or data for the appropriate week payment is sought.
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NEXT DAY UPDATE:
They didn't have a hand in the Common Apps, did they?
Also see:
Experts split on timetable to fix US health site
Obama admits frustration with snarled insurance site
I don't like to listen or watch him because he makes me sick.
Red flags were seen on federal health website
Yeah, everyone knew it was a $500 million(!) piece of $hit but they in$i$t you eat it anyway.
I don't like to listen or watch him because he makes me sick.
Red flags were seen on federal health website
Yeah, everyone knew it was a $500 million(!) piece of $hit but they in$i$t you eat it anyway.
"No timetable on fixes to health care website" by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Alan Fram | Associated Press, October 24, 2013
WASHINGTON — On the defensive, the Obama administration acknowledged Wednesday its problem-plagued health insurance website didn’t get enough testing before going live. It said technicians were deep into the job of fixing major computer snags but provided no timetable.
This whole rollout has been a complete disaster for this president. His signature achievement turned out to be $hit.
Democratic unhappiness with the situation began growing louder — including one call for President Obama to ‘‘man up’’ and fire someone — as the president’s allies began to fret about the political fallout. Democrats had hoped to run for re-election touting the benefits of the health care law for millions of uninsured Americans, but the computer problems are keeping many people from signing up.
But now they are abandoning him.
And Republican sniping continued unabated....
"We know who owns the press. What we may not know, even though they
control both houses of Congress, upper and lower, is that they favor the
democrats so... all the news you read now is how the democrats have come out on top in the struggle to do something about the shut down"
And the Boston Globe is a flag$hit $tandard-bearer.
Obama himself, though strongly defending the health care overhaul, has been increasingly willing to acknowledge extensive problems....
You would have to lack a sense of smell to deny it since the analogy is a steaming pile of shit on a plate with nose firmly over it and inhaling. To say I don't smell anything.... sigh!
The first of several hearings is set for Thursday in the Republican-led House, with lawmakers ready to pounce on the contractors who built the balky online enrollment system.
Acknowledging what has been obvious to many outside specialists, the administration said Wednesday that the system didn’t get enough testing, especially at a high user volume.
It blamed a compressed time frame for meeting the Oct. 1 deadline to open the insurance markets....
After they had THREE YEARS to DEVELOP IT?
What kind of a lame-a$$ excuse is that?
And if that was so, HOW COME WE DIDN'T GET a DELAY in the PROVISION like EVERYONE ELSE!?!
The explanation, posted online in a department blog and accompanying graphic, identified other broad areas of problems and outlined fixes....
Like what?
Obama has urged consumers to revert to low-tech approaches, by applying through the mail, telephoning federal call centers, or seeking in-person assistance.
Translation: they really need their hands on that $200 billion in revenue they are expecting to collect over the program so they can show the debt-holders the boodle of loot and say "we can pay you now."
On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will line up contractors, including CGI Federal, the lead developer of the website, and QSSI, which designed a back-room operation known as the federal data services hub.
Doesn't sound very transparent, and it's healthcare for frikkin' crying out loud!
Related:
Is that really a $urpri$e anymore?
The hub is integral to verifying applicants’ personal information and income details, and the administration says it is working as designed.
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Also see:
SICK: Millions of Americans Losing Health Plans, Senate Dems To Back Delay,
Obama's Credibility Is Melting
I'm kind of done with him, too.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Health website not fully tested, contractors say" by Robert Pear | New York Times, October 25, 2013
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers from both parties expressed anger and dismay at the contractors’ performance. The lawmakers said they felt misled because the same contractors testified at a hearing Sept. 10 that the online marketplace was working properly and was ready to enroll millions of Americans eager to buy insurance, subsidized by the government....
Oh, they LIED to a CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE, huh?
Well, that is a CRIME, sir!!
After the hearing, Julie Bataille, a spokeswoman for the Medicare agency, said, “Due to a compressed time frame, the system was not tested enough.” She did not answer questions about whether the administration had considered delaying the debut of the online marketplace.
Politics pervaded the session. Republicans said that technical problems crippling the federal website epitomized fundamental flaws in the 2010 health care law. Democrats said that the law was sound, and that the website needed to be fixed immediately so that people could get insurance....
The contractors said the federal website, HealthCare.gov, had been inundated by more consumers than anticipated.
But Representative Anna G. Eshoo, a California Democrat, called that a lame excuse.
“I represent Silicon Valley,” Eshoo said. “This is the 21st century. There are thousands of websites that handle concurrent volumes far larger than what HealthCare.gov was faced with.
“Amazon and eBay don’t crash the week before Christmas, and ProFlowers doesn’t crash on Valentine’s Day.”
Good point. Globe saved that for last because they really do not want you to know that Democrats are abandoning Obama en masse on this. I think Obamacare is going to cost them any chance at the House.
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I'm kind of done with him, too.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Health website not fully tested, contractors say" by Robert Pear | New York Times, October 25, 2013
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers from both parties expressed anger and dismay at the contractors’ performance. The lawmakers said they felt misled because the same contractors testified at a hearing Sept. 10 that the online marketplace was working properly and was ready to enroll millions of Americans eager to buy insurance, subsidized by the government....
Oh, they LIED to a CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE, huh?
Well, that is a CRIME, sir!!
After the hearing, Julie Bataille, a spokeswoman for the Medicare agency, said, “Due to a compressed time frame, the system was not tested enough.” She did not answer questions about whether the administration had considered delaying the debut of the online marketplace.
Politics pervaded the session. Republicans said that technical problems crippling the federal website epitomized fundamental flaws in the 2010 health care law. Democrats said that the law was sound, and that the website needed to be fixed immediately so that people could get insurance....
The contractors said the federal website, HealthCare.gov, had been inundated by more consumers than anticipated.
But Representative Anna G. Eshoo, a California Democrat, called that a lame excuse.
“I represent Silicon Valley,” Eshoo said. “This is the 21st century. There are thousands of websites that handle concurrent volumes far larger than what HealthCare.gov was faced with.
“Amazon and eBay don’t crash the week before Christmas, and ProFlowers doesn’t crash on Valentine’s Day.”
Good point. Globe saved that for last because they really do not want you to know that Democrats are abandoning Obama en masse on this. I think Obamacare is going to cost them any chance at the House.
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