[digiphile]

I didn't just interview the people who made those decisions. I've talked to dozens of federal and state CIOs over the years, along with many contractors and Web developers. The consensus amongst insiders and industry observers is that this approach and outcome are genuinely novel and innovative in the government space, which is why I wrote the feature to begin with, starting months ago.

[smacktoward]

This would have been more evident if any of those people had been quoted in the story. It also would have made the story more compelling -- as it stands, it reads like a bunch of colleagues congratulating each other on what fine work they have done.

[digiphile]

Fair point. And ouch, I think. Just so it's clear, I'm not their colleague -- and the contractors in question weren't obligated to praise CMS. I'd hoped that readers would find the perspective of the writer useful, in addition to the comments of the principals, whose interests are obvious. Thank you for the feedback.

[protomyth]

"and the contractors in question weren't obligated to praise CMS"

If you are a government contractor and some reporter asks you about a government project, the response is going to be positive (or at least obfuscated) unless you would like to have no more government contracts.