Incident: USAJobs 3.0 Launch Failure: System Crash and Errors

Published Date: 2011-10-27

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident with USAJobs occurred in October 2011 as per Article 8317.
System 1. USAJobs 3.0 [8317]
Responsible Organization 1. The federal government's Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was responsible for causing the software failure incident with the launch of USAJobs 3.0, which resulted in crashes, error messages, disappearing resumes, and other technical issues [8317].
Impacted Organization 1. Job seekers and hiring managers were impacted by the software failure incident reported in Article 8317. [8317]
Software Causes 1. The software failure incident with USAJobs was caused by the system crashing repeatedly, error messages popping up, resumes disappearing, passwords being obliterated, and basic geography being incorrect, such as searches for Delaware showing jobs in Germany [8317]. 2. The failure was also attributed to bugs and glitches in the new USAJobs 3.0 system, which frustrated applicants and hiring managers, leading to complaints on social media platforms [8317]. 3. The poor performance of USAJobs was blamed on an unanticipated spike in traffic to the site, which overwhelmed the system and led to further issues [8317]. 4. Industry experts pointed out that the government should have been better prepared to handle the increased traffic and questioned whether the system's inability to maintain search parameters when clicking back on the browser was solely due to increased traffic [8317].
Non-software Causes 1. Insufficient server capacity and bandwidth to handle the traffic spike to the site [8317]. 2. Lack of proper testing and preparation for the increased traffic and system complexities [8317]. 3. Complexities in the federal hiring process and the patchwork of systems involved in recruitment and application routing [8317]. 4. Competition and rivalries between different systems and contractors involved in federal hiring processes [8317].
Impacts 1. The software failure incident with USAJobs 3.0 led to crashes, error messages, disappearing resumes, obliterated passwords, and incorrect search results, causing frustration among applicants and hiring managers [8317]. 2. The failure resulted in thousands of job-seekers and hiring managers turning to social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to complain about the issues with the system [8317]. 3. The software failure incident embarrassed the tech-proud White House and raised questions about the government's ability to deliver efficient online services [8317]. 4. The failure became political fodder for conservatives critical of government performance, sparking a debate over whether private companies or the public sector could do a better job in such situations [8317]. 5. The incident also highlighted the complexities and challenges involved in standing up a new system, with industry experts questioning the government's preparedness to handle increased traffic and system issues [8317].
Preventions 1. Proper load testing and capacity planning to handle anticipated spikes in traffic could have prevented the software failure incident [8317]. 2. Thorough user acceptance testing to identify and address any usability issues or software glitches before the launch could have helped prevent the failure incident [8317]. 3. Implementing a rollback plan in case of major issues with the new system could have mitigated the impact of the failure incident [8317]. 4. Ensuring better communication and coordination between different stakeholders involved in the project, including contractors and government agencies, could have helped prevent the failure incident [8317].
Fixes 1. Implementing a rollback plan for extensive rework on USAJobs 3.0 to address the bugs and issues [8317]. 2. Adding more servers and bandwidth to handle the increased traffic to the site [8317]. 3. Conducting thorough troubleshooting to identify and resolve other technical problems affecting the system [8317]. 4. Ensuring better preparation to handle increased traffic and system load, not just attributing all issues to traffic spikes [8317]. 5. Addressing usability issues such as the inability to click back on the browser to maintain search parameters [8317].
References 1. Personnel officials 2. Daniel Rothman 3. Adam Davidson 4. Matthew Perry 5. Evan Lesser 6. John Berry 7. Jeffrey Neal 8. Janet Barbour 9. Avue Technologies 10. Monster

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization, multiple_organization (a) The software failure incident has happened again at one_organization: The article mentions a previous software failure incident at USAStaffing, also run by the federal personnel agency, where a crash occurred last summer resulting in the loss of information for 70,000 candidates [8317]. (b) The software failure incident has happened again at multiple_organization: The article mentions that the Department of Homeland Security had a botched, multimillion-dollar project with TalentLink, a Web-based system for recruiting and hiring, which was canceled after three years in development [8317].
Phase (Design/Operation) design, operation (a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be seen in the article where it mentions the botched rollout of USAJobs 3.0. The system was launched after an 18-month redo, but it immediately faced issues such as crashing repeatedly, error messages popping up, resumes disappearing, and passwords being obliterated. This indicates that there were contributing factors introduced during the system development or update phase that led to these failures [8317]. (b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase is evident in the article where it discusses the poor performance of USAJobs being blamed on an unanticipated spike in traffic to the site. Additionally, the article mentions that some visitors were still learning how to use the site's enhancements and might mistake a flawed search for a software glitch. This indicates that there were contributing factors introduced during the operation or misuse of the system that led to these failures [8317].
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system, outside_system From the provided articles, the software failure incident related to the USAJobs 3.0 launch involved contributing factors both within the system and outside the system: (a) within_system: The software failure incident within the system was attributed to issues such as crashes, error messages, disappearing resumes, obliterated passwords, incorrect geography results, and unexpected errors within the USAJobs 3.0 platform itself [8317]. (b) outside_system: The software failure incident outside the system was attributed to factors like an unanticipated spike in traffic to the site, which overwhelmed the system, embarrassing the tech-proud White House and leading to political debates over the government's ability to handle such technology projects [8317].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions, human_actions (a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions: The article mentions that the federal government's new jobs board, USAJobs 3.0, experienced crashes, error messages, disappearing resumes, and other issues shortly after its debut. These problems were attributed to an unanticipated spike in traffic to the site, which overwhelmed the system. The Office of Personnel Management had to add servers and troubleshoot to address the problems caused by the increased traffic [8317]. (b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions: The article highlights that the botched rollout of USAJobs 3.0 has become political fodder for conservatives critical of the government. There is a debate over whether private companies or the public sector would have done a better job in handling the software rollout. Additionally, there were concerns raised about the government's handling of the increased traffic and the competition between federal agencies and contractors in the recruitment process, indicating potential human-related factors contributing to the failure [8317].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) software (a) The software failure incident related to hardware: - The article does not mention any specific hardware-related issues contributing to the software failure incident reported in the case of USAJobs crashing, error messages popping up, resumes disappearing, and passwords being obliterated [8317]. (b) The software failure incident related to software: - The software failure incident with USAJobs crashing, error messages popping up, resumes disappearing, and passwords being obliterated was primarily attributed to software issues such as bugs and glitches in the newly launched USAJobs 3.0 system [8317].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident related to the USAJobs 3.0 launch was non-malicious. The failure was attributed to various factors such as unanticipated spike in traffic, technical issues, poor performance, and lack of proper preparation to handle the increased load on the system [8317]. There is no indication in the articles that the failure was due to malicious intent to harm the system.
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) poor_decisions (a) The software failure incident related to the USAJobs 3.0 launch can be attributed to poor decisions made during the development and rollout process. The decision to rebuild, develop, and host the new system in-house by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) instead of renewing the contract with Monster, the previous job search engine provider, for $6 million, ended up costing about $20 million over two years [8317]. Additionally, the decision to launch the new system without proper testing and preparation, as evidenced by the site debuting a day early after a week-long shutdown for testing and transferring data, contributed to the failure [8317]. The poor decisions made in the development and rollout of USAJobs 3.0 led to various technical issues, user frustrations, and ultimately a software failure incident.
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) development_incompetence, accidental (a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is evident in the USAJobs 3.0 rollout. The new jobs board faced numerous issues such as crashing repeatedly, error messages popping up, resumes disappearing, passwords being obliterated, and even basic geography errors like showing jobs in Germany when searching for Delaware. The Office of Personnel Management, which took over the system from Monster, had to add servers, troubleshoot problems, and address bugs that frustrated applicants and hiring managers [8317]. (b) The software failure incident also had accidental contributing factors. Personnel officials blamed the poor performance of USAJobs on an unanticipated spike in traffic to the site. Additionally, the government faced challenges in handling the increased traffic and other issues like flawed searches being mistaken for software glitches. The accidental factors included difficulties in managing the complexities of standing up a new system and users needing time to adapt to the site's enhancements [8317].
Duration temporary (a) The software failure incident related to the USAJobs 3.0 launch was temporary. The article mentions that within 48 hours of the launch, the system was experiencing crashes, error messages, disappearing resumes, and other issues [8317]. The Office of Personnel Management worked on adding servers, bandwidth, and troubleshooting to address the problems, and after 16 days, the issues had somewhat subsided. However, the system was still riddled with bugs frustrating both job-seekers and hiring managers [8317]. (b) The software failure incident was not permanent as efforts were made to address the issues and improve the system's performance over time.
Behaviour crash, omission, value, byzantine, other (a) crash: The software failure incident related to the USAJobs 3.0 launch was characterized by crashes and error messages, with the system repeatedly crashing, showing error messages, and losing resumes and passwords [8317]. (b) omission: The system failed to send email alerts with job openings to users like Janet Barbour, who limited her search to three states but did not receive any email alerts as expected [8317]. (c) timing: There is no specific mention of a timing-related failure in the articles. (d) value: The software failure incident involved the system performing its intended functions incorrectly, such as displaying jobs in the wrong locations like showing jobs in Germany when searching for Delaware [8317]. (e) byzantine: The system exhibited byzantine behavior with inconsistent responses and interactions, as job-seekers and hiring managers experienced frustration with the system's bugs and glitches, leading to complaints on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter [8317]. (f) other: The software failure incident also involved a failure related to increased traffic causing issues beyond just system overload, as industry experts questioned whether all problems were solely due to the spike in traffic [8317].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence property, delay The consequence of the software failure incident reported in the articles was primarily related to delays and harm to job seekers and hiring managers due to the malfunctioning of the USAJobs 3.0 system. The incident caused frustration, loss of data, and difficulties in accessing job opportunities, impacting both job seekers and hiring managers [8317]. The articles did not mention any direct harm, death, impact on basic needs, or significant property damage resulting from the software failure incident. The primary consequences observed were delays in job searches and application processes, as well as the loss of data and functionality for users.
Domain information, government (a) The failed system was related to the information industry as it involved the federal government's new jobs board, USAJobs, which is a platform for job seekers to find federal job openings [8317]. The system was intended to facilitate the process of finding federal jobs easier and faster for applicants.

Sources

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