Stop asking for Amazon, Google and Microsoft cloud with 'no justification': US Library of Congress told to drop its 'brand-name'-tastic RFP

In a decision [PDF] issued yesterday, a US public watchdog said the Library of Congress needs to stop asking contractors to supply brand-name-only commercial stuff for a five-year $150m cloud hosting contract. Congress's library, which is a federal agency, had required that suppliers must offer Amazon, Google and Microsoft …

[raving angry loony]

Standard practice

When you get the sales reps from Amazon, Google and Microsoft to write your RFPs for you, they're not going to be "neutral" RFPs. At all. I've seen FAR too much of that in various government organizations in the UK, US, and Canada. Vendor lockin is something governments should be assiduously working against, not aiding and abetting.

[karlkarl]

Re: Standard practice

Agreed, and this is for the "big boys". An RFP from a smaller but more innovative company doesn't stand a chance and is only ever used by these guys to help bid down the big-name brands or to convince them to provide more "hand-outs".

But like many governmental policies, It is like watching a bunch of clowns roll around on the floor in their own excrement.

[Claverhouse]

Re: Standard practice

Your last sentence breaches patent law, and is an unauthorised penetration/leak of security. Our client D. Cummings is prepared to sue on behalf of his agency, and his clients who commissioned this work, for spoiling the final phase of 'Brexit Funday IV: The Final Reckoning'.

[Steve K]

Re: Standard practice

like watching a bunch of clowns roll around on the floor in their own excrement.

Bravo Sir, may I license that one....?

[Anonymous Coward]

'Vendor lockin is something governments should be assiduously working against'

All cloud systems are designed like Hotel California....

[Terry 6]

I don't understand....

How any organisation, but particularly any govt. owned one, can have the sheer brass neck to put out a contract that specifies a random subset of potential suppliers. I can understand a quality threshold e.g. "Must have a successful history of supplying x", ironically seems to be missing from UK requirements (Capita et al). Or a national security one, such as only companies owned within its borders. Or an ethical one, that the companies must meet some specified threshold. But not simply listing a subset of the various ones available because it wants to.That's just an entry level pathway to corruption and back handers. As well as simply being transparently perverse.

[Jon 37]

Re: I don't understand....

If I was a big organization, and I was going to put my data on the cloud, then I would want a big established cloud that I trust is not going to be arbitrarily shut down when the owner is bought / goes bust / decides to exit the business.

That leaves 3 choices - the ones in the RFP.

Now the LOC could have tried to reverse-engineer some "impartial" scale and/or stability criteria to ban all but those three clouds, but just specifying the 3 is simpler and saner. And of course, being a simpler and saner way to do the bureaucracy of purchasing, it's not allowed.

[Jonjonz]

Re: I don't understand....

Having written RFPs and RFBs for a number of government agencies I can tell you the "brand name" issue here is just plain lazyness by the bid writer who could not be bothered too write of specifications for services or products that only specific businesses currently provide.

Trust me, bid writting is not a fast track position in any government, so you get good ones and lots of reallly bad ones, while Admin is too busy to even care.

[DS999]

Usually when an RFP is rigged

It will specify something that only the companies they want will have, like maybe "must have at least x datacenters in the US, y in Europe and z in Asia" or something so that the small fry can't meet the criteria. It is harder for them to challenge the reasonableness of such criteria than a short list of companies.

More typically it is rigged to a single company, but if the Trump administration has infected the decision making process for this RFP like they did the DoD one they will find any reason they can not to select Amazon as the final winner.

[Teiwaz]

Even without RFPs

You are running against the American proclivity to use brand names. 'kleenex', 'Hoovers' etc.

[Alister]

Re: Even without RFPs

I don't think that's an especially American thing is it?

We commonly refer to the hoover when in fact it's an Electrolux, and have said, "can you get some kleenex", when we just mean Aldi tissues.

[Terry 6]

Re: Even without RFPs

That's kind of the opposite. But a lot of Brits we do also do that thing too. Demanding a named brand when any old stuff will do. Notably Paracetamol - requiring, even demanding- Anadin instead of the generic,. Both containing 100% Paracetamol.

And of course, back in the olden days IT had to be IBM

[keith_w]

Re: Even without RFPs

I think that that is more a British thing. Although we definitely refer to nose tissues as Kleenex, and ASA as aspirin, North Americans refer to most brands of vacuum cleaners as vacuum cleaners, not any specific brand, and we definitely do not refer to an excavator as a "JcB"

[Robert Grant]

Re: Even without RFPs

We Brits should be shouting loudly over the Tannoy about this stuff.

[Herby]

RFP writers?

Looks like those vendors haven't taken lessons in RFP writing! The really good ones specify the vendor without specifying the vendor outright. "Must own ajor newspaper", will get you Amazon, etc...

Some vendors of items actually have the "RFP language" right in the sales brochure. Seems like school got dismissed early!

[Terry 6]

Re: RFP writers?

This is no different to writing job descriptions to get the person you've already selected. Sometimes, of course perfectly validly- as when someone's been doing a temp job for months and you are required to advertise the perm job.

But open to abuse, too.

WANTED Support assistant with 19 years experience of being the MD's niece etc.

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems like school got dismissed early!

It screams Trump all over the place.

[Pennsyjohn]

Re: Seems like school got dismissed early!

Isn't it amazing how everything is pinned to Trump, even if he had nothing to do with it ?

Maybe the mud will stick to the wall if you throw enough of it. I doubt the Donald had anything to do with the RFP.

[Richocet]

Re: Seems like school got dismissed early!

The wall is so thickly coated with mud, most new mud won't stick to it.

[martinusher]

Re: Seems like school got dismissed early!

Not Trump but quite likely one of his cabal. Privatizing governement functions is a key plank in ultra-right wing political philosophy.

[martinusher]

Cloud providers meet Big Users

The Library of Congress is a good example of an organization who really needs to have this level of storage capability in-house. They are going to be in this for the long term -- the Library of Congress existed well before computers and will exist after the likes of Google, Microsoft and Amazon are historical footnote -- and they have large and ever increasing demands for storage. A cloud provider would be useful for short term backup and overflow provision but its not a good fit for all storage needs -- at best its going to be a large and growing tax, at worst there's going to be a big headache as the providers change.

The government already owns vast storage capabilities (ask the NSA) so mooching off their data centers would probably be the most cost effective way to provide for long term data storage needs.

[hayzoos]

Better not be at Trump's behest

This is pertaining to The Library of Congress, part of the Legislative branch, not the Executive branch. The office of The President is the top of the Executive branch. Congress is the top of the Legislative branch. The President should have no say over operations of the other branches except those specifically called out in the constitution.

[Terry 6]

Re: Better not be at Trump's behest

Irrespective of nation or constitution, that's just not how patronage in govt. works.

It's not "Trump decided this". (Or whoever)

It's "The placemen who have been given these roles because the people at the top approve of/expect favour from them decide this".