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Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte

reuters.com

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Re: Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte

#251

Post by bumby »

DeathArrow wrote: post #231
callamdelaney wrote: post #64

Now the UK should swiftly follow suit in sacking these cowboys. The taxpayer is being charged extortionate rates in some cases for fresh graduates who know effectively nothing at all about what they talk about. At the same time, we should increase salary banding for technical roles to the market rate. We will get the experience we need for much, much less.

I think consulting companies are outsourcing the work to lower wages countries like India, so it might not cost the taxpayer more.

Oftentimes, the consulting companies are outsourcing back to the government but for free. The dynamic is something like:

1) Consultant is hired to solve a problem.

2) Consultant struggles to understand the nuances of the problem.

3) Consultant relies on government employees to hand-hold them through the solution, effectively subsidizing the consultant with free labor.

4) Consultant writes it up in a final report with their company logo on the title page and gets paid.

Maybe that's not necessarily bad if it eventually solves the problem, but it does seem pretty inefficient for the taxpayer.

Re: Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte

#252

Post by mnky9800n »

next_xibalba wrote: post #108
mikeocool wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have experience in technology and biomedical research. IT consultants, particularly from the large firms, are very overpriced for the value they provide. Blindly cutting NIH grants (even some of the ones that sound silly on paper) and funding for research institutions is doing great harm to progress in modern medicine. Multiple things can be true at once.

[flagged]

Don’t hate the player hate the game. Academia has been perforated with metric driven nonsense from administration at all levels of funding and the university. It is not possible to quantify how much work it takes to generate a new idea that will downstream benefit humanity. This metric driven academic reality has led to two outcomes. An over production of papers on every topic. And the reduction of research into predictable outcomes that cannot be considered science because it is trodding well worn paths knowing it will produce yet another paper. Meanwhile funding agencies, job rules and laws, etc. all incentivize hiring PhDs over all other kinds of positions because it’s usually rather impossible to create lots of forever tenure track professor and research scientist positions since no one has funding for the next 40 years of a persons career. It was wrong that they cheated and they should be removed but i understand why they did it.

Re: Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte

#253

Post by ceejayoz »

_mlbt wrote: post #238
ceejayoz wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That ship has sailed now, though. The benefits and job security can no longer be counted on. Government is gonna have to compete more on salary, or accept worse candidates.

I said usually for job security because I am familiar with the current administration’s actions, and the benefits have not been touched and would take an act of Congress to change. Trust me, there are still lots of talented individuals who are eager to join the government workforce, even now.

> benefits have not been touched…

If you don't count mass firings, sure.

Re: Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte

#254

Post by varispeed »

callamdelaney wrote: post #64

Now the UK should swiftly follow suit in sacking these cowboys. The taxpayer is being charged extortionate rates in some cases for fresh graduates who know effectively nothing at all about what they talk about. At the same time, we should increase salary banding for technical roles to the market rate. We will get the experience we need for much, much less.

This is unlikely, because previous Tory government created even stronger bond by changing IR35, to basically remove small independent companies from the market and created virtual monopoly for these corporations.

Labour is very much on board with this (IR35 is a taboo).

Re: Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte

#255

Post by whimsicalism »

bumby wrote: post #226
whimsicalism wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the problem is there is literally no incentive to make sure you are hiring the right people in government. nobody is sacked if you dont make your numbers, xyz. higher salary bands are a neccessary but not sufficient condition to get competent operators.

A counter point: Salary should be decent, but I’m not wholly convinced it needs to be at “market rate.” By having reasonable rates but below “market” value, you are likely creating a selection bias for people who are in it for the mission more than they are in it for the money. I think that’s a good thing. It’s like the idea that politicians should be allowed to trade stocks or else you won’t get the “best” talent. I…

we should also start cutting doctor pay to make sure we get people who are in it to help others.

Re: Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte

#257

Post by Molitor5901 »

ibejoeb wrote: post #21

Kinda amusing that the general sentiment so far, in a forum filled with technology expertise, is that there is certainly waste in these budgets. But, when discussing the overall trend of cutting programs in other fields where the majority doesn't have that expertise, the conclusion is the opposite.

To be fair, no one wants their job to go away. The government contracting gravy train is massive and has been seemingly never ending for a very long time.

Re: Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte

#258

Post by [deleted] »

ibejoeb wrote: post #21

Kinda amusing that the general sentiment so far, in a forum filled with technology expertise, is that there is certainly waste in these budgets. But, when discussing the overall trend of cutting programs in other fields where the majority doesn't have that expertise, the conclusion is the opposite.

[deleted]

Re: Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte

#259

Post by zemvpferreira »

bumby wrote: post #226
whimsicalism wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the problem is there is literally no incentive to make sure you are hiring the right people in government. nobody is sacked if you dont make your numbers, xyz. higher salary bands are a neccessary but not sufficient condition to get competent operators.

A counter point: Salary should be decent, but I’m not wholly convinced it needs to be at “market rate.” By having reasonable rates but below “market” value, you are likely creating a selection bias for people who are in it for the mission more than they are in it for the money. I think that’s a good thing. It’s like the idea that politicians should be allowed to trade stocks or else you won’t get the “best” talent. I…

Inevitably, that way of setting up an organization leads to one of two end-games:

1-A wealthy ruling class who can afford and feels entitled to be the government. See: the British Empire.

2-A wealthy ruling class who can afford to postpone profits while they accumulate power, to eventually trade that power for profit through grift. See: western democracy.

Pay people as well as possible for their work and ruthlessly go after theft, corruption and incompetence. That’s how you build a lastingly successful system. Shades of Singapore.

Re: Pentagon to terminate $5.1B in IT contracts with Accenture, Deloitte

#260

Post by wonderwonder »

QuantumGood wrote: post #244
tw04 wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ONLY time this occurs in the private sector is when corporate raiders are trying to extract every last penny from a business they plan on killing. Unsurprisingly this follows directly with project 2025s goal of dismantling the federal government and privatizing what departments aren’t filled with party loyalists at the expense of the average US citizen.

96 of 301 projects complete, 58 in progress • https://www.project2025.observer/

Whether you support it or not, for government, that's really some incredible efficiency. almost 1/3 complete in 100 days
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