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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

#571

Post by m463 »

heisenbit wrote: post #217

Consultants are misused if employed on a constant basis instead of employing enough senior staff directly. There are well known drivers on both sides that tend to promote such an unhealthy setup. What is concerning at the US government is not cutting consulting but at the same time cutting staff and on top creating a hostile environment for senior staff. This is unprecedented and is not something one would do in the…

> in the private sector

yet it happens.

The problem in any case is when the consultants/contractors/temp workers become entrenched.

It's really easy to do it - just put people who know less next to people who know more but are paid less. Then you can't keep your normal employees and have to keep hiring from outside.

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

#572

Post by profsummergig »

I was sitting with a D.C. lobbyist at a function dinner. Lawyer at a prominent lobbying law firm. Random seat assignments. He gets a call on his cellphone. After the call he has a shit-eating grin on his face. Tells me Biden just signed student loan forgiveness. He had lobbied on behalf of the banks that had given the loans to the students (and students weren't paying them back).

I asked him if it was fair on the waitress earning $13 per hour to subsidize the student loan of a Law school graduate. He changed the subject deftly.

Accenture and Deloitte pay a lot of money to lobbyists for these Pentagon contracts. After the dust has settled, they'll still get juicy contracts. We will all forget that any of this happened.

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

#573

Post by stonogo »

dvdhnt wrote: post #568
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.

[flagged]

Why has nobody been prosecuted, then? Why was USAID's detailed budget website removed by the current administration? If crimes were being committed, why has there been no accountability?

I keep hearing about all this corruption, but nobody seems to be in jail about it.

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

#574

Post by fundad »

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.

Yep. The budget for the Department of War has been too bloated for too long and needs to be more efficient. Let’s not privilege a series of pet projects for a bunch of bureaucrats over the reset of government.

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

#575

Post by fundad »

VirusNewbie wrote: post #545
mywittyname wrote: post #531

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This very well could become more expensive to cancel abruptly when you consider the second and third order effects. That's the goal. The whole conservative ideology for the past 40 years has been to make the government inefficient so it can complain about government inefficiencies. What we are seeing is the end game of this idea - turn the government itself into an gigantic inefficient corporation designed to sipho…

> The whole conservative ideology for the past 40 years has been to make the government inefficient so it can complain about government inefficiencies. People say things like this, but then have trouble explaining California, where the left has had a supermajority for almost as long.

And California is an incredibly successful economy and people dream of living there.

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

#576

Post by Havoc »

max_ wrote: post #529

What exactly do these two people do. The marketing BS on their websites say alot of generic, motivational crack. Could someone help me break down the real bread & butter of these firms and why people give them money?

They provide some analysis. Which may or may not be helpful. It also acts as CYA - if a venture goes wrong and the CEO can say the consultants supported it then that can take some of the heat off

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

#577

Post by IncreasePosts »

sjsdaiuasgdia wrote: post #546
IncreasePosts wrote: post #484

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am not one to quote Smedley. Then why are you arguing with me? I was pointing out the contradiction of people who do that. I feel like you think I'm saying the US shouldn't support Ukraine. I'm all on board with the US supporting Ukraine. I'm saying the US needs a powerful military if you want it to support Ukraine, which is at odds with people who are fully behind the quotes that come from Butler and Eisenhower'…

I don't like it when unlike things are treated as being the same, hence my reply.

They aren't unlike things being treated the same. They are two separate and conflicting opinions which are concurrently expressed by some people.

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

#578

Post by DrNosferatu »

PeterStuer wrote: post #394
heisenbit wrote: post #217

Consultants are misused if employed on a constant basis instead of employing enough senior staff directly. There are well known drivers on both sides that tend to promote such an unhealthy setup. What is concerning at the US government is not cutting consulting but at the same time cutting staff and on top creating a hostile environment for senior staff. This is unprecedented and is not something one would do in the…

You have to understand consultancies in IT are just brokers. They buy in "inventory" of "profiles" at as low a cost as possible, and sell that inventory to their customers for as much as possible. So you've got your CS graduate which you recruit and pay $40/hr, slap a badge on them and rent them out for $120/hr. Once in a while you fall short and need to hire some freelancers for $60/hr. That's it. As your gov agency…

It’s the perfect brewing soup for kickbacks.

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

#579

Post by kjreact »

NegativeK wrote: post #433
leguminous wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the reason the US government needs to use consultants is because they can't actually pay enough to hire senior developers directly due to the constraints imposed by the GS pay scales. Often times the top levels of the pay scale aren't even available because there is some rule about how people can't be paid more than someone else. So instead they pay for consultants and all of their overhead. (Of course there…

Pay is a common one from the employee's side. From the manager's side, it nearly takes an act of fucking god to open up a new position. Citizens pay attention to the number of employees, and they get mad about it. You really don't want to be the one to cause citizens to angrily call elected officials if you're in an appointed government position (i.e., an at-will employee.) I have an unsexy government job. I've seen…

> Citizens pay attention to the number of employees, and they get mad about it. You really don't want to be the one to cause citizens to angrily call elected officials if you're in an appointed government position.

This week, after witnessing the largest insider trading infraction in US history, many citizens barely noticed. I no longer believe citizens pay attention to news. They’re conditioned to feel outrage at whatever social media tells them to.

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

#580

Post by fallingknife »

Spooky23 wrote: post #334
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.

Uh, no. I can name a half dozen people who are in roles like this for F500 companies. Hell, my wife was zoning SANs for $300/hr for like 6 years at a big bank. Another friend is essentially a pimp for a bunch of companies providing logistics staff. He takes a vig from the work of like 10k people.

Why should I care? It has no effect on me. That's between the shareholders and management. Government bloat comes out of my paycheck.
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