Outdated Systems
As the temporary shutdown forces millions of people out of a job, millions of Floridians struggle to file for unemployment due to the Florida Reemployment Assistance Program’s outdated website.
These website crashes leave many Floridians confused and desperate to find work. The system used by the Florida Economic Opportunity is called CONNECT. The CONNECT system runs on a software that dates back to 2013. Some of the system framework used to build the application seems to date back to the time of Governor Rick Scott.
Connect Keeps Crashing
The CONNECT system doesn’t seem to have been designed with an end date in mind. In other words, there was no plan put in place to replace or update it.
This results in slow and unstable connection to the site when users open the program from a P.C. using Windows 7 or newer.
The Cloud is Constantly Connected
To avoid the hassles of running complex software and storing and processing large chucks of data, businesses and government agencies outsource these processes to cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services or Nerds Support. That way, applications and programs are scalable and operate more efficiently.
The CONNECT system was developed before the time of cloud computing was as popular as well known. Governor Ron Desantis himself has acknowledged a flaw with the website.
“The website would be down more than half the time, it would take seven second just to connect through,” he said. ” It may have been okay in 1996, not in 2020.”
Old Browsers Beat Beyond Belief
Considering Windows 7 itself has recently reached the end of life period, you can image how problematic it is for people trying to use the current system.
This is why so many people in Florida struggle to file for unemployment.
This, however, is not an isolated incident.
Labor Department Lagging Log ins
New York’s State Department of Labor also experienced a flood of traffic to their website as people try to apply for unemployment as well.
The governor of New York got various tech companies to work on the infrastructure of the website. Furthermore, it increased server capacity and assigned 700 staff members to an unemployment insurance hotline.
Filing Formula Fixes Freeze
The State Department of Labor also asks to reduce the surge of traffic by scheduling when citizens file. For example, people with last names A- F apply on Monday, last names G-N apply on Tuesday, and last names O-Z apply Wednesday.
In Florida IT experts admit the existing website hasn’t been developed beyond earlier browsers. In order to navigate through the existing site, users would have to use an older, or outdated browser that functions better with the site.
Wednesday, April 8, Florida did provide a second website that was easier to use on smartphones and tablets. This helped ease the influx of traffic but many of the findings from the Office of Florida Auditors have not been addressed.
Word To the Wise From the Web
This should be cautionary tale for businesses with outdated IT or unaudited systems. This period of remote working should be an opportunity to review your IT network and infrastructure and ensure everything from security to data and filing systems are updated.
Even outsourcing some of these tasks to a cloud provider can dramatically increase the productivity and efficiency of your business.
If you’d like more information on cloud, cyber security, remote work or managed services visit our blog or contact us at 305-551-2009.
