[LINK] web: Taxpayers, IT expert slam ATO's 'appalling' myGov integration

[Frank O'Connor]

Mmmm …

This debacle has been going on for about 20 years in one form or another.

First there was the platform specific binaries … that only worked on Windows, and only worked on specific (obsolete) versions of Windows.

Then there were the aborted attempts to create binaries for other platforms … the current Mac version seriously sucks, and the LINUX version is pretty much vapourware as far as I know.

Then there were the Gateway/eGov problems … in which prospective users had to leap all manner of obstacles and slow server performance just to access the ATO site using their platform specific binaries. I still remember my attempt to register with hrror … fie years after I aborted it.

Then there were the promises about doing it all on the Web, rather than using dedicated applications for different platforms. As far as I can see none of those promises - made annually over the last 10 years - has ever been fulfilled.

Then there was the fact that an increasing proportion of users (now the vast majority) have been switching to mobile platforms (phones, tablets, other devices) over the last 10 years … who haven’t been catered for at all.

Then there is the fact that the ATO seems incapable of getting its front end systems to ‘talk to’ its back-end systems in real time. They seem incapable of Enterprise Application Integration, and doing business on the Web Basically all you get if you lodge a return online is the same time frame, delays and enterprise performance as you get if you lodge a paper form.

And I’m not even gonna talk about the problems with server clustering, load balancing and other demand handling problems their publicly connected servers have.

It seems that the ATO doesn’t get the Web, doesn’t get Open Standards and doing business from the browser, doesn’t get the fact that it can no longer specify what platforms, software and hardware its clients use, and has no idea what it is to be a good citizen on the Internet.

But that’s OK … because all of its old IT empires and ways of doing things have survived 20 years past their use-by date - so all is well with its bureaucratic world.

Just my 2 cents worth …
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> On 7 Jul 2015, at 1:18 pm, Jan Whitaker <jwhit at janwhitaker.com> wrote:
> 
> Oops.
> Be sure to read the comment about the interative inputs and the lack of partial save. This is amateur hour stuff.
> 
>     http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/taxpayers-it-expert-slam-atos-appalling-mygov-integration-20150707-gi6bru
> 
> 
> 
> I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8
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