By Matthew Broersma, 15 September 2006 09:15
NEWS
The UK government will get a discount of more than £1m per year from Microsoft, under a deal reached between the software company and the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).
The OGC announced on Thursday the government will see the savings as a direct result of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that allows government to pool buying power across the public sector.
As specified in the terms of the MoU, the government has received a discount because the total number of Microsoft licences issued across the public sector now exceeds 1.5 million, the OGC said. The discounts apply to desktop software under Enterprise and Select Agreement licences, and include discounts on support.
Hugh Barrett, chief executive of OGCbuying.solutions, the OGC's trading arm, said in a statement: "One-and-a-half million public sector users have joined together under OGC's leadership to make the most of their combined purchasing power. The new discount available on Enterprise Agreements can now be enjoyed by all public sector bodies and the savings can be reinvested into front-line public services."
OGCbuying.solutions also manages MoUs with IBM, Oracle and Sun, on behalf of the OGC. The agreements contributed to £412m in cost-cutting delivered by the organisation last year, the OGC said.
Matthew Broersma writes for ZDNet UK
Comments
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1. John McCreesh
Has the IT profession learned nothing in the past 3 years?
Nicholas Carr's "Does IT Matter" pointed out the folly of buying commodity software from expensive (monopoly) vendors. No amount of "discounts" can hide the fact that the UK government is pouring huge sums of money down the drain by not pursuing the real alternative - co-operatively developed, open-source software.
2. Simon
1 1/2 million licences (per year I assume) equates to a LOT of cash. Just how much of this has been put out to meaningful tender, and how much is just "well we HAVE to use MS" ?
It's about time our own government started 'doing the right thing' and mandate certain feqatures - such as compliance with open standards.
3. Richard Barrington
Wow! Thats almost as much as Bristol City Council will be saving over 3 years by not using Office!
Multiply that by the number of LA's and OGD's and Government would be saving 10's if not 100's of millions.....
Lets not forget this is a 'lock-in' discount designed to preserve monoculture rather than encourage choice and competition