[LINK] UK Gov agency threatens to dump 500,000 Windows desktops

[Bernard Robertson-Dunn]

UK Gov agency threatens to dump 500,000 Windows desktops
By John Lettice
Posted: 24/11/2001 at 13:58 GMT
The Register
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23008.html

The UK government's confusing relationship with Microsoft seems to be
taking a turn of the worse. In recent weeks we've seen the Ministry of
Defence and the National Health Service strike deals which will allegedly
save them tens of millions of pounds. Now, however, according to a story in
today's Times, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is threatening to
dump Microsoft, citing increased licence fees that would cost the UK £60
million a year, representing an increase of 50-200 per cent.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when we modify our Ts & Cs. Microsoft's
various licensing plans and discount structures probably are sufficiently
intricate for some arms of government to be saving money while others are
being squeezed. But is the OGC's threat to kick its teddies out of the pram
something MS UK need take seriously?

Perhaps. The OGC, which was set up to save money on government purchasing,
will to some extent be playing to the gallery, but according to the Times,
it's already started looking at alternative suppliers. The words of chief
executive Peter Gershon also seem less than diplomatic. The OGC "will not
stand by and tolerate suppliers who seek to raise prices of products which
are in widespread use across the public sector where the increases take
advantage of our dependence on these products and simply cannot be
justified on value for money grounds."

Who on earth could he mean by that? Ominously, that "take advantage of our
dependence" clearly indicates he's onto the old 'lock-in' gag.

He and UK MS boss Neil Holloway are currently wrangling over a single
government contract to supply Office and Windows for 497,600 civil
servants. So discounts all round, or does somebody else get lucky? Lets
hope Gershon hasn't noticed his site, which Netcraft tells us is running
Lotus Domino on Solaris, is down right now...

--
Save a little money each month and at the end of the year you'll be
surprised at how little you have.
-- Ernest Haskins
 
Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Sydney Australia
brd@austarmetro.com.au