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CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

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Re: CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

#211

Post by ryanSrich »

didibus wrote: post #13

I just don't understand these software deals, the price is so high. At 44 million, you can hire 146 engineers each paid 300k for a full year. Trust me, you need much less to build something like this, and there's no excuse for it to suck so bad. I'm also curious, anyone know where the development actually happened? Did Deloitte further subcontracted out? Was it outsourced?

These deals are mostly to help out friends and line pockets. Building something that works doesn’t even matter. Government contracting is one of the biggest scams happening in broad daylight.

Re: CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

#212

Post by j45 »

afavour wrote: post #196
j45 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a lot of $6-700/hr management consultants that don't know much about tech but are happy to channel their inner Steve Jobs to try and architect something. The 22 year olds might not be able to do it (I beg to differ), but can management consultants/accountants who barely took typing in school who have Excel as the height of their digital literacy be expected to have all the answers? By the time this gets t…

It doesn’t sound like that at all. “channel their inner Steve Jobs” sounds like everyone is staring at the clouds and practising some blue sky thinking, while the OP you replied to is talking about managing legacy systems, old data and bringing along an existing work force into using a new system. These are all the diametric opposite of “Steve Jobs architecting”.

I can expand on the Steve Jobs reference.

Apple is about creating usable technology for the masses, not the few.

Apple also simplified access to legacy systems, like buying music and making it digital. Or maybe using your watch or phone to pay.

IPhone is geared for ease of use for anyone to adopt, including folks who arent super tech saavy..

Apple's innovation is charging a premium to create beginners in tech adoption who might not be experts at tech, who want yo feel empowered by everything just working.

Re: CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

#213

Post by snypher »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #2

> Why was Deloitte awarded the project on a no-bid basis? The contracts claim the company was the only “responsible source”[1] to build the tool. [1]: https://www.acquisition.gov/far/6.302-1

"because configuration of the VAMS application is occurring using Deloitte’s propriety GovConnect platform. Therefore, no other contractor has rights or access to leverage the system to carry out O&M activities"

Re: CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

#214

Post by ugh123 »

j45 wrote: post #152
mdorazio wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These contracts are generally bloated, but if you've never seen how a $10M+ contract for things like this works you're probably thinking about it wrong. The actual development piece is a pretty small portion of the overall work. The bulk of it is figuring out all the requirements, wrangling legacy systems and data into some kind of shape that can either be interfaced with or imported, documentation, support (includin…

Sounds like a lot of $6-700/hr management consultants that don't know much about tech but are happy to channel their inner Steve Jobs to try and architect something. The 22 year olds might not be able to do it (I beg to differ), but can management consultants/accountants who barely took typing in school who have Excel as the height of their digital literacy be expected to have all the answers? By the time this gets t…

>Beware Management Consultants and Accountants encroaching into "IT". Their worlds are drying up because tech folks can learn business easier than business folks can learn tech.

Could say the exact same thing about tech recruiters

Re: CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

#215

Post by satya71 »

zaroth wrote: post #115

> Deloitte is the only contractor that can meet the project requirements, because configuration of the VAMS application is occurring using Deloitte’s propriety GovConnect platform. Therefore, no other contractor has rights or access to leverage the system to carry out O&M activities, such as the administration of the system, change and defect management and end user support. As the only contractor with the GovConnect…

Holy cow! Talk about vendor lock-in! Even AWS is easier to get out of.

Re: CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

#216

Post by throwaway3699 »

ndiscussion wrote: post #26
klyrs wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's roughly $0.015 of "your money." Put down the pitchfork and do something for your local community.

This is one example of thousands. Another commenter (seems to have deleted their comment) said it was about .001% of the federal budget. That is just insane.

I'd be willing to bet at least a quarter is avoidable waste.

Re: CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

#217

Post by sk5t »

stefan_ wrote: post #70
didibus wrote: post #13

I just don't understand these software deals, the price is so high. At 44 million, you can hire 146 engineers each paid 300k for a full year. Trust me, you need much less to build something like this, and there's no excuse for it to suck so bad. I'm also curious, anyone know where the development actually happened? Did Deloitte further subcontracted out? Was it outsourced?

Apparently this is the system: https://vams.cdc.gov/vaccineportal/s/login/ It didn't load earlier (infinite redirect), right now its a Salesforce error page, of course. Salesforce and Deloitte, a match made in heaven.

It's long been said: if you want good software, get a bunch of accountants--and folks who want to take marching orders from accountants--to build it.

Re: CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

#218

Post by covidthrow »

briandear wrote: post #162
tidepod12 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean it's certainly no secret that the US government suffered from incredible incompetence when it came to managing the pandemic. With that said, the start of the pandemic was ~1 year ago. Even if it started right then, 12 months for a country-wide, government-run IT project is a rush job.

What government managed it right? Anyone in Europe?

Without enumerating the criteria for "right", you're probably not going to get a sensible answer.

A lot of the debate about pandemic management boils down to criticisms of, "did it wrong," without saying what would tip the threshold in the other direction.

This is problematic because it inspires a lot of talking past one another, resentment, and miscommunication. Ultimately it turns into a churn of frustration, defensiveness, and offense.

But even if you manage to get a response to agree on what, "right," means, the depth of their example is likely shallow. (e.g. "Such and such had only 12 infections because they such and such.")

This, too, is problematic, because it presupposes a ton of equivalent variables between the two countries. Population demographics, geographic structure, legal structure, culture, economic stratification, etc.

Conflation between a, "did it right," and a, "did it wrong," country is practically impossible, at least in the context of pandemic response. And anyone who tries to suggest otherwise is either ignorant, lazy, or obtuse.

If you get a satisfactory answer to your query, I'll move to the moon.

Re: CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

#219

Post by hertzrat »

Zenst wrote: post #124
mraza007 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow I’m amazed like how much money can made if you are into government contracting I’m just curious to know can you get government contracts let’s say if you are running a software agency

Yes, how to apply and secure governmental contracts and grants is something many educational curriculum miss out upon in life.

How does the process work?

Re: CDC website built by Deloitte at a cost of $44M is abandoned due to bugs

#220

Post by offtop5 »

brundolf wrote: post #209
offtop5 wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For various reasons this wouldn't work, you have the various bands of government salary https://federalnewsnetwork.com/pay/2020/01/more-top-career-e... >But for a GS-15, step 10 in Washington, his or her salary should total roughly $185,509 in 2020. But due to the federal pay ceiling, that same GS-15, step 10 in Washington will make the limit of $170,800 this year. And that's the absolute Max, after you go to the tro…

That may be a low salary compared to FAAMNG, but it's quite reasonable for the rest of tech. It's a good bit more than I make with 6 years of experience in Austin, and I currently make almost twice as much as I did when I started. They don't need industry-leading researchers, they need people who can build a maintainable business systems.

That's the absolute Max though. You need to justify that.

It's infinitely easier to make on 170k happen in the private sector, then as a federal employee. Unless the government wants to create like a special ops tech department which doesn't use the government pay grades, more money can be made in the private sector.

I'm only mid-career or so and I'm already at around 200. But I don't, at least on paper have the qualifications to architect out a whole system. And while we all want to act like we could whip up this entire thing with VueJs in a weekend, pretty sure there's some God forsaken legacy system it needs to hook into.

Since most engineers don't want to work with legacy systems for less than market pay, the engineers who end up working on this stuff tend to not be all that great.

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