Tension and Flaws Before Health Website Crash

> Another sore point was the Medicare agency’s decision to use database software, from a company called MarkLogic, that managed the data differently from systems by companies like IBM, Microsoft and Oracle.

I wonder where this requirement came from. Were there specific reasons, such as an analysis that this particular technology was most appropriate to the task? Or something involving vendor favoritism?

So it's all MarkLogic's fault?

It's insane that they went with a proprietary XML database for a project like this. The site probably won't work until they rip out that stupid database and put in a regular SQL database, but that probably means a full rewrite.

unbelievable...this is what happens when nerdy zealots are let loose to make crucial product decisions. I am sure there is some hipster hacker in there who advocated the adoption of nosql.

Trust me, no "hipster hacker" anywhere on the face of the planet has ever uttered the words "I know what would make this project better; an XML datastore!". Nothing is less cool than XML.

The hipster solution would be MongoDB. :)