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____/ bbgruff on Friday 06 June 2008 13:35 : \____
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> They have just 'pulled a BECTA'...
>
> Is that a bit like "pulling a London Borough of Newham"?
>
> You could perhaps guide us to the stories?
> As I recall:-
>
> - a much-lowered bid from MS, but.....
> - Secret 10-year deals (MOU) not open to the public
> - an undertaking NOT to use any other technology
> - an undertaking to always speak of MS in a good light.
>
> Also, promises/claims given/made then which have simply not come to pass, and
> now a NEW (revised) deal, a few years on, still secret, is being negotiated?
>
> Perhaps I've got that story wrong, or over-simplified it?
I'm not sure about 'pulling', but maybe it's 'doing'. Here's something you want
to read:
Promoting Microsoft...
,----[ Quote ]
| This is the same man who originated the term "doing a Newham" - ie the
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| process of feigning interest in Linux to get, ahem, 'preferential
| arrangements' with Microsoft.
|
| This is the same man who, in line with Newhams MoU with Microsoft, starred in
| Microsoft's "Get the Facts" roadshow.
|
| As Dr John Pugh MP has stated, "Microsoft is *very* close to the UK
| Government, and they intend to stay there".
|
| Richard Steel's appointment as President of Socitm is a very canny play from
| the multiply-convicted monopolist.
|
| Of course the contractual obligation to promote Microsoft in the UK Public
| Sector will not affect either his credibility, or his bias-free ability to
| perform this new role, nobody could possibly think that, could they?
`----
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/talkback/0,1000001161,39408136-39001084c-20093563o,00.htm
For recent information see:
Newham has a cow over Microsoft MOU
,----[ Quote
| However, Newham has supplied the INQUIRER with internal studies that it says
| do demonstrate that its decision to commit to Microsoft was justified. The
| studies were performed by Socitm, a private public sector consulting firm of
| which Newham COI Steele is a vice president. the INQUIRER will report on
| these findings in due course.
|
| Meanwhile, the original MOU is enlightening. As well as claiming the deal
| would enable Newham to achieve high rankings in Audit Commission assessments,
| it committed Newham to moving all "competitive technology" to Microsoft,
| regardless of the feasibility of such a move.
|
| It also required Steele to promote Microsoft software.
|
| See attached file: Memorandum of Understanding.doc
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/21/microsoft-newham-council-goes
Is This the Season of Porcine Aerobatics?
,----[ Quote ]
| Two of the darkest moments for open source in the UK involved the loss of
| major public projects. The first was Newham Borough Council, which ran a
| high-profile trial of open source only to ditch it at the last moment, after
| magically receiving an offer it couldn't refuse from Microsoft – which cynics
| suggested was the main motivation for the open source exercise in the first
| place.
|
| This was bad news for free software, because it enabled Microsoft to do two
| things. First, it could claim that an independent body had tried open source
| and found it wanting, and secondly, it was able to use Newham as a showcase
| for its public sector technology.
|
| In some ways, the second defeat was even worse. It involved a massive
| contract with the NHS that was far-reaching in scope...
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/index.cfm?blogid=14&entryid=728
War of words breaks out over Microsoft MOU
,----[ Quote ]
| The salutary lesson to draw from our dealings, Richard, is not whether you
| can trust the press. It is rather a lesson in managing expectations, a
| process every CIO should know well.
|
| The expectations you invested in your 2004 deal with Microsoft, as enshrined
| in the memorandum of understanding, were also unrealistic.
|
| To recap, the original MOU said the use of Microsoft software would "improve
| Common Performance Assessment results and Star Ratings" measured by the Audit
| Commission.
|
| The analysis presented in the INQUIRER on Friday demonstrated that this
| expectation had not been met.
|
| When we asked you about this on Friday you told us there was a new MOU. Now
| you accuse us of twisting your words.
|
| How would you prefer to describe what happened to the original agreement? If
| it has not been scrapped, perhaps it has been decommissioned, recycled, sold
| on eBay?
|
| Having been told you had drawn up a second MOU with Microsoft, we were
| clearly interested to learn what new terms you had agreed in the public
| interest. You said it was confidential. But the first MOU was deemed fit for
| publication under FOI rules.
|
| You also said the first MOU was only ever a three year deal. But the document
| was accepted by a Council vote as part of a 10-year deal.
|
| Now four years since you signed the original agreement it is proper for us to
| ask how well the public money you are giving Microsoft is spent.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/23/scrapped-microsoft-mou
- --
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | Have you hugged your penguin today?
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU is Not UNIX | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
http://iuron.com - proposing a non-profit search engine
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