Posts by Mike Thomas

Gov to take axe to big IT contracts soon, will hand chunks to SMEs

Why doesn't the Government know how much they spend? Because they ask all the non-SME's they contract with to report on how much they spend with SME's on Government contracts.

As the larger suppliers don't run accounting software that differentiates between SME vs Non SME ( or carbon emissions or ethnic backgrounds or sexual persuasion) never mind between each individual sales contract, then it's a complete guessing game.

You know how much they buy, because you can get a report for that. After that it's guess work.

It would be better if the government first decided on a target that they could measure accurately. Directly awarded contracts. They can then measure it themselves. But they would mean they couldn't fudge the figures.

SME's are very important, but using an SME should be in context. Just because you engage an SME doesn't mean it's better. it often depends on the resource required and the value add given. It's a bit like setting a target to use small spanners in a garage. So less simple nonsense targets please and more smart objectives.

Working over Christmas? Government tech suppliers will be

Still unanswered questions

There are still 151 unanswered questions - despite the self imposed deadline for answering them passing on 19th December.

Is the procurement extended or is it at risk of being contested?

UK.gov chucks another £260m at MOOC-based cyber security training

what's the issue? Could anyone be harmed by this?

Cyber Supplier to HMG‟ badge which companies that supply cyber products and services to Government - Probably more important that Public Sector start taking security seriously first - look at the outcry from the adoption of PSN standards from Local Government when these are based on normal Commercial practices.

Symantec: We've lopped off half our heads, but look how well we're doing now

As the redundancies were made after the close of the last quarter end, I would suggest that it might be a good idea to see how the next quarter's performance stands up.

All 4G telcos must hit 98% coverage, Ofcom told

It would make sense to have one network covering 98% of the land mass with high capacity and then sell capacity to operators to market. Why have four or five operators each providing a poor coverage/bandwidth?

Attention metal thieves: Buy BT, get 75 MILLION miles of copper

The real issue

Copper theft sounds like a couple of scallywags clipping a couple of cables - almost in a Robin Hood way.

The truth is different. Ask the telecom engineers who have to don bulletproof suits and climb towers because scum wait to take pot shots at them as they climb the towers? Ask the security teams that were swamped by armed gangs of over 100 people every night in South Manchester last month and threatened and attacked so the thugs could send an unwilling 'volunteer' to the top of a live electricity pylon in pitch black to cut fibre optic cables every night?

UK is becoming more like regions of Africa where the telecom companies have stopped providing services to some areas as there is no law and order to protect and no respect for property or the Country.