Curtis says programmers and systems analysts start fixing troubled websites by addressing the glitches they can see. But based on his analysis of the site, he believes the ongoing repairs are likely to reveal even deeper problems, making it tough to predict when all the site’s issues will be resolved.

“Will it eventually work? Yes, because they have to make it work,” he says. But it’ll be very expensive.”

Curtis and other technology executives say the site’s problems are the result of poor management of its many working parts. They also believe, as Congressional testimony has revealed, the site suffered from a lack of testing once all its systems were in place.