Government departments have been ripped off by a "cartel" of big IT firms, a damning report by a committee of MPs has found.
IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs
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Re: IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs
#2I know of instances where personal data is "password protected" in an Excel file, saved to a memory stick and then couriered to the destination.
The lack of technical knowledge prevents people from seeing it as problem.
Re: IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs
#3I honestly don't know who is worse, the companies who manage to fleece the taxpayer this way or the idiots in the upper levels of the civil service who don't really care because "it's just taxpayers money".
Re: IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs
#4Government contracts - fixed price, big upfront design, and ever-shifting acceptance standards (which the contractor will not have any input into). A contractor has to charge 3-10X the price, just for the brain damaged way decisions are made.
Re: IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs
#5Windfall tax on Accenture, EDS, IBM Global Services and all the rest. Claw back the tens of billions of British taxpayer's money they've squirreled away. Go after their shareholders too.
Re: IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs
#6Windfall tax on Accenture, EDS, IBM Global Services and all the rest. Claw back the tens of billions of British taxpayer's money they've squirreled away. Go after their shareholders too.
How's this for a completely crazy idea - sack a few civil servents who have been responsible for creating and managing such spectacularly awful contracts?
I know that traditionally amateurism and incompetence haven't been seen as a barrier to a splendid career in the civil service, but maybe that should change?
Re: IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs
#7I honestly don't know who is worse, the companies who manage to fleece the taxpayer this way or the idiots in the upper levels of the civil service who don't really care because "it's just taxpayers money".
Or the people that deliberately organised purchasing things in a convoluted manner that channels taxpayer's money to a few preferred companies, in a manner that while increasing our actual debt, puts it on different books, so we don't look quite as in debt as we are.
Re: IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs
#8"In its report, the public administration committee recommends that departments across Whitehall use more small and medium-sized IT suppliers to increase competition and bring down prices."
This is exactly what already happens, not that I think MPs know about it. I've personally worked on and even in some cases BUILT government websites, yet you won't find my name or my employer's (at the time) name on their books. They contract stuff out to the same companies again and again, ostensibly because they trust them / rely on them / any number of obviously not true reasons, and I don't think they realise that when they pay a big company £300,000 to make a website, they just turn around and sell it on to a small company who does it for £40,000.
I won't name websites or companies for obvious reasons, but those are quite close to actual numbers.
Re: IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs
#9Government contracts - fixed price, big upfront design, and ever-shifting acceptance standards (which the contractor will not have any input into). A contractor has to charge 3-10X the price, just for the brain damaged way decisions are made.
Having done a bit of work for a state agency here, I have to say the "fixed price" aspect is the most frustrating. Having to estimate the needs/demands of a system 1-2 years ago, and budget for it today, then earmark all that money ahead of time... argh. It's a recipe for wasteful spending. Compared to "just in time" philosophies of only paying for what you need when you need it, current procurement and budgeting strategies almost demand wastefulness be an integral part of the process.
Combine this with a culture of "if you don't spend as much this year as you did last year, you won't get all of the money you request" and we're in a never-ending cycle of bad decisions.
Re: IT giants 'ripping off Whitehall', say MPs
#10I honestly don't know who is worse, the companies who manage to fleece the taxpayer this way or the idiots in the upper levels of the civil service who don't really care because "it's just taxpayers money".
I know which is worse: the companies. Because barring evidence to the contrary, I don't believe that these 'idiots in the upper levels of the civil service who don't really care because "it's just taxpayers money"' exist. I'm sure some of them are incompetent as regards IT, and that's a problem that needs addressing, but this sort of baseless castigation of public servants irritates the hell out of me.