Why bother with PC World and Currys, when you can buy a Government procured PC in the region of £3,500? That is the shocking figure given in a Report published today, entitled 'The Government IT Rip Off'.
The Report is authored by the Commons Public Administration Committee (which looks at the workings of the machinery of Government). I am a member of this Committee: for a number of weeks we have held detailed evidence sessions into Whitehall's use of IT.
Our Report suggests that an obscene amount of money is being spent by Whitehall Departments on IT, that a de facto cosy 'cartel' operates amongst the big IT companies, and; that smaller SME's don't get a look in. The Government pays more than seven times for IT than its equivalent in commercial rates.
Moreover, there is very little transparency in IT contracts and programmes - especially regarding cost - and little expertise when decisions are made to procure IT - which is often unwieldy and out of date when it finally is implemented.
PASC suggests a new era of glasnost for IT contracts, especially regarding expenditure, widening the supplier base to break up the 'cartel' and much more modern use and understanding of the 'agility' of IT.
Certainly, urgent reform is needed. Taxpayer's money has been abused for far too long.
You can read more here and here.
I'd like to think that a Member of Parliament - and a member of the PAC, no less - would appreciate that IT supply for nearly half a million civil servants is a little more complex than popping down to PC World and buying whatever is the cheapest option on display.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to read this very well-argued counterpoint before making such tabloid-friendly but fact-light arguments in future.
It has been blindingly obvious for a long time that there is something seriously wrong with government IT procurement. It seems all the recent projects have been late, over budget and fail to do what they where intended for. Even if we accept that the price being paid, includes all the software and licences, it is still too high a price for stuff that simply doesn't do what it says on the tin.
ReplyDeleteThere is a maxim in business that if your actions don't produce the intended result, don't repeat them because the result won't change.
If government want to learn how to buy IT, talk to TESCO. They really know how to get a good deal. The cartel wouldn't stand a chance!
Once they have learned how to buy the kit, maybe they can also learn what real data security means, as it is also blindingly obvious that most public sector workers haven't got a clue.
My GP went over to the new NHS system, reassuring all their patients that it was secure. Once I pointed out all the flaws in their system visible from the reception desk they were gob smacked. They had swallowed the propaganda and hadn't thought about it any further. Until security is a fundamental part of how staff access the data, and they understand exactly what it takes to keep things secure, they will continue to be blasé about our info.
Until they learn, government IT security and procurement will remain a bad joke!