Not Just Healthcare.gov: NASA Has 'Significant Problems' With $2.5B IT Contract

[DEAD7]

"According to the Inspector General, NASA and HP Enterprise Services have encountered significant problemsimplementing the $2.5 billion Agency Consolidated End-User Services (ACES) contract, which provides desktops, laptops, computer equipment and end-user services such as help desk and data backup. Those problems include 'a failed effort to replace most NASA employees' computers within the first six months and low customer satisfaction,' the report states(PDF). It adds that NASA lacked the technical and cultural readiness for an agencywide IT delivery model and did not offer clear contract requirements, while HP failed to deliver on multiple promises."

 

[88m3]

probably obama's fault too

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

To be fair, I can't remember the last time the govt gave a fukk about NASA.

 

[BlvdBrawler]

It's insane how much companies like IBM and HP make off IT services .

 

[Lord Scion]

Damn I need some certs.

 

[Kritic]

To be fair, I can't remember the last time the govt gave a fukk about NASA.

nasa betrayed the public. the funding they ask to explore the universe was instead used to monitor and control us.

 

[Blackking]

they need to chill out. the war right now is via hacking and systems, IT is the most important thing to invest in.

 

[JT-Money]

"According to the Inspector General, NASA and HP Enterprise Services have encountered significant problemsimplementing the $2.5 billion Agency Consolidated End-User Services (ACES) contract, which provides desktops, laptops, computer equipment and end-user services such as help desk and data backup. Those problems include 'a failed effort to replace most NASA employees' computers within the first six months and low customer satisfaction,' the report states(PDF). It adds that NASA lacked the technical and cultural readiness for an agencywide IT delivery model and did not offer clear contract requirements, while HP failed to deliver on multiple promises."

This kind of stuff happens at almost every agency in the Federal government. I think the problem stems from putting some clueless government employee in charge of managing these projects that can't be fired for botching them.

 

[Piff Perkins]

This is what I don't understand: if you believe government can play a positive role in people's lives and want to throw the tea party mindset in the bushes...shouldn't you be trying to make sure government actually...works? Sure a lot of stuff the government does works well: Medicare, the intelligence community, military power, etc. But why they constantly getting the relatively small things wrong?

The problem here is that in order to get a government contract you have to fill out very confusing paperwork, go through security checks, etc. Guess who gets to influence how the paperwork is set up? Major corporations or firms who have lobbyists. So when it's time to bid for a new contract they already got the inside track, regardless of whether they're the best people for the job. I heard Jon Stewart say the guy who created Obama's brilliant online infrastructure during the 2008 campaign couldn't submit an application to get the Healthcare.gov contract because it was too confusing. Some big company got it, and fukked up. I'm sure there would have been glitches no matter who made the site...but I'd imagine it would have at least WORKED within a week if a smaller, more experienced group got the contract.

If I was in government I'd be sitting around thinking "how can I prove my homie @DEAD7 wrong...how can I make this shyt work to a point even he has to admit we did a good job." Instead these cacs getting big contract money and not caring.

Worse yet you got Obama whining about how the contract process is complicated...you the PRESIDENT, homie. You don't need congress, you can start fixing this shyt yourself since it deals with the executive branch.

 

[JT-Money]

Worse yet you got Obama whining about how the contract process is complicated...you the PRESIDENT, homie. You don't need congress, you can start fixing this shyt yourself since it deals with the executive branch.
[/quote]

He wouldn't even fire Kathleen Sebelius who was ultimately responsible for that Healthcare.gov debacle. Almost all of these projects are managed by Federal employees so you can't blame the contracting companies completely. Nothing gets done in the Federal government without countless government employees signing off on it.