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Newham and the Prisoner's Dilemma
,----[ Quote ]
| First the bad. Newham demonstrates that once Microsoft products are used for
| a large number of functions in a large organisation, there is a natural
| tendency to use even more of them because of the way that Microsoft links and
| binds them together. As more and more Microsoft-based skill sets are
| acquired, the switching costs become very high – which is precisely why
| Microsoft adopts this tightly-integrated approach.
|
| This means that, realistically, there is little scope for swapping in open
| source solutions to replace those of Microsoft, even when the total cost of
| acquiring and running the software is lower. The re-training costs will
| always be a barrier.
|
| [...]
|
| Indeed, that was perhaps the most important insight that I gained from
| yesterday's meeting: that local councils find themselves in something of a
| Prisoner's Dilemma when it comes to choosing whether to go with Microsoft or
| free software.
|
| Individually, it makes sense to do deals with Microsoft, since councils can
| use the threat of turning to open source to obtain better deals. But if they
| *all* turned to open source, the overall cost savings would be much greater.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2205&blogid=14
Secret code and the damage it does to our society
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's Jerry Fishenden's very recent and (I found) chilling presentation
| concerned their massive Public Sector IT commitment. Simply put, it was about
| the next generation smart surveillance programme or 'proof of entitlement'
| initiative.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2204&blogid=17
Recent:
Can free, open source software make us more desirable?
,----[ Quote ]
| The sociobiology of humankind is predicated on an evolutionary
| or 'reproductive fitness' approach to analysing human behaviour.
|
| This has never been articulated more succinctly than by Scott Adams, the
| author of Dilbert, who devoted a whole chapter to the topic in his
| book - 'Thriving on Stupidity in the 21st Century'.
`----
http://www.siriusit.co.uk/myblog/open-source-budget-special.html
Newly in Newham
,----[ Quote ]
| Striking, too, were the serried ranks of LCD screens in Richard's
| department – although the effect was rather spoiled by the fact that they
| were all running Windows, mostly XP. One interesting fact that emerged from
| our meeting was that future plans include skipping Windows Vista for most
| users, and moving straight to Windows 7 – just like most of the saner part of
| the Windows computing world.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2148&blogid=14
Related:
Newham and Microsoft prepare another MOU
,----[ Quote ]
| Steel had claimed the first MOU had been superseded when we put it to him
| that the original deal had failed to meet its key objectives. He insisted the
| objectives had been met. After we published evidence that the original MOU
| had not met its objectives, Steel tried to discredit your humble
| correspondent in his blog. He also shared confidential reports for
| publication in an apparently desperate attempt to find ways to show how the
| Microsoft deal could be justified.
|
| The reports were benchmarks produced by the Society of IT Managers, of which
| Steel is now president. The MOU had achieved all its objectives bar some
| spurious commitment to develop with Microsoft a methodology for measuring the
| performance of the Microsoft deal, said Steel. This done, "We had therefore
| agreed new actions with Microsoft in a progress review last year," Steel
| repeated in his blog. But the original agreement had stipulated that the
| Microsoft deal would propel Newham into the top performing quartile of UK
| councils and that this would be demonstrated in benchmarks drawn up by the
| UK's independent Audit Commission. Councillors opted Microsoft over Open
| Source on this promise in 2004. The deal has failed to meet this objective.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/06/25/newham-microsoft-prepare-mou
War of words breaks out over Microsoft MOU
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| 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
Newham has a cow over Microsoft MOU
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| 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
London council dumps Microsoft, may go open source instead
,----[ Quote ]
| NEWHAM LONDON Borough Council has scrapped the controversial 10-year
| Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it signed with Microsoft in 2004 and drawn
| up a new agreement with a new set of deliverables.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/18/microsoft-flagship-flounders
Government faces crunch on Microsoft mega-deal
,----[ Quote ]
| Rumour has it that Microsoft hasn't been feeling appreciated in the public
| sector, thinking its customers don't know what a good deal they've been
| getting since the MOU was first negotiated in 2002. BECTA, the procurement
| quango for the education sector, has recommended schools don't upgrade to
| Microsoft Vista and Office 2007.
|
| [...]
|
| "There's a big anti-Microsoft lobby growing on the green agenda" he said,
| especially among local councils who were beginning to realise that PC's were
| power hungry and expensive to maintain. They were taking interest in
| think-client computers instead.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/15/uk-gov-faces-crunch-microsoft
Lawmaker blasts U.K. government on Microsoft policy
,----[ Quote ]
| A member of Parliament of the United Kingdom has launched a stinging
| attack on the U.K. government's IT strategy, saying that it has given
| Microsoft too much control.
|
| John Pugh, who is a member of Parliament, or MP, for Southport and a
| member of the Public Accounts Committee, was speaking in an
| adjournment debate on Tuesday that he had called. The aim of the
| debate, he said, was to explore the alternatives to using Microsoft
| software, including open source.
|
| [...]
`----
http://www.news.com/Lawmaker-blasts-U.K.-government-on-Microsoft-policy/2100-1012_3-6212721.html
http://tinyurl.com/2ashm2
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