No more 'rip-off' IT disasters – UK.gov will be too busy tweeting

Blighty's government has promised that its new "digital by default" campaign will put a stop to billion-pound IT catastrophes that have dogged the public sector for years. In a commitment-light response to a report subtly titled Government and IT "a recipe for rip-offs" - published in January by MPs on the Public …

[Christoph]

That's sorted then

We've got lots and lots of problems? No worries - just issue a statement that the problems have been solved or don't matter.

You surely don't expect us to actually do anything about them do you?

[Jason Hindle]

I could not

Possibly care to comment!

[taxman]

What, I ask

could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

£3500?

£3500? That's nothing! When I was at the Beeb the going rate for a desktop was £6k for a 3 year lease, thanks to the ridiculous lock-in contact with Siemens (now ATOS). Maybe that's changed now..

[toadwarrior]

How can anyone sit there and pay £3500 for a computer and not think there pissing a load of money away. Anyone that charges that much should be stabbed in the face.

[pixl97]

With software licenses or not?

If it's not just the computer + windows, but the entirety of all the licensing that is required then the 3500 may or may not be a bad deal. The amount per seat that I see spent on CAD, medical, POS, and inventory management would make your head spin.

[Is it me?]

Re: With software licenses or not?

Hang on isn't this a replay of a story last year, I seem to remember commenting then, that it depended what the £3500 covered, and the contract it came under.

Dead easy to get a PC to cost £3500. PC + Software + Support (The big cost) + Secure Network + Infrastructure + Peripherals + Location + Consumables.

Lets be clear, when a government department buys a PC it costs less than a PC from PC World or anywhere else, just like any other corporate, however the TCO depends on the accounting regime used, some departments break it all out, others don't, just depends on the service you are buying, and what you want the PC for.

[SirMunchAlot]

SirMunchAlot

@toadwarrior:

'stabbed in the face'

Bloody hilarious. Or maybe sexual?

Not too sure.

[John A Blackley]

The government promises

.....sorry, had to stop for a laugh there.

The government promises to put an end to rip-off IT projects.

Would this be the same government that's proposing the CCDP..... er, IT project?

[Is it me?]

The easy way and the hard way

The reason the government gets ripped off, is because they set unrealistic goals, expect an unrealistic price, never stick to their requirements and micro manage contracts.

If the government actually ran its procurements with people who understood the costs of IT delivery thy might actually get projects that run to time and budget. Most SIs run development projects at a loss, and make the money on support over 7 - 10 years, because they would never win if they tried to charge the upfront capital costs, upfront. The government like it this way, because it lowers capital expenditure.

The rip off numbers usually arrive in the second half of the project after tech refresh, which is usually the contract break even point fot the SI, and the real profit appears in the seconf half.

Change, isn't usually a rip off either, it only appears so because the rates are more realistic, but are also open book, and subject to fixed and agreed margins, usually not that high, maybe 5%. Yes sometimes the marging is much more, but that's usually because the risk and contingency were not used on fixed price. The other thing that happens is inflation, so that rates assume say 2% per annum, but costs don't rise by that much. Older contracts probably allow 4%, but with staff not getting pay rises, this goes stright to the bottom line.

Ultimately, there are very few genuine rip-off IT projects.