In response to post from Harvard Business Review‘s blog post, let us examine the difficulties of Business Technology Management. Blog blames the leadership for the system’s breakdown, and to an extent, I agree. Testing could have eliminated the simple error that halted Obamacare’s debut.

However, it seems unfair to judge leaders as solely at fault, when by nature, programmers and managers have differing objectives; one wants to “do it right”, while the other demands to “have it done as soon as possible, at the lowest price”. Both only are serving their purposes. When such interests conflict, it is often the management (who are the bosses) that get the say.

In light of this, management must develop appreciation for the processes involved in creating software system.

As important as politics and business strategies may be, every business falls apart when the product or the IT system that supports the organization goes awol.  Cost minimization cannot come at the cost of compromising quality, stability, or functionality.

Here is a satirical comic illustrating the “bugs” in Obamacare’s elaborate IT system. The mistake was a simple one, as small as spilt coffee over the chips. However, the management had to pay top costs for faulty implementation.