For Web developers everywhere, the announcement that the very expensive HealthCare.gov site launched without proper testing to prove that it worked was a clear indication it was destined for failure. No site should launch without proper testing, especially if it’s going to be marketed to the entire nation as the one destination for healthcare coverage.
As consumers, we’ve come to rely on several things, including the workings of the Internet. Unless a brand is already incredibly strong, a broken website can quickly render it dead. Likewise, if a site doesn’t support enterprise mobile solutions, we’ll quickly look for one that will. Perhaps the administration believed this wasn’t necessary and launched anyway. The onslaught of bad press that followed certainly didn’t help the already struggling Obamacare.
A proven provider in this field has stepped up to the plate to fix what has gone incredibly wrong. Compuware (News - Alert), an application performance management technology company, announced that it will provide a daily analysis of the government site to determine whether or not improvements being made currently have the desired positive impact on performance.
Jeffrey Zients has been named President Obama’s appointee to ensure fixes are applied to problems that have rendered the site seemingly useless since its launch October 1. Performance problems include error messages, frozen pages and bugs that prevent software from performing according to design. Zients has provided assurances that the site will be working smoothly for the majority of users by the end of November.
To accomplish this, the free AJAX Edition tool and production real user and synthetic monitoring service from Compuware are being used to complete analysis and provide the necessary visibility into what consumers are experiencing across the nation. Such a move is critical for any online initiative as the web application that serves as the cornerstone to customer interactions, brand perception and the customer experience.
Perhaps the most important moral to this story is that the performance issues the site experienced upon launch could have easily been avoided if the right applications had been put in place and tested before launch. This would have saved considerable time and money, as well as the negative blow to the reputation of the group and Obamacare in general.
Whether or not the site will deliver on the demand for meeting enterprise mobile solutions needs is yet to be seen. If we enter December without a functional site able to handle hundreds of thousands of transactions at any given time, the recovery may be more than the administration can achieve without considerably more work to repair a damaged reputation.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson