Comments on: Monday Morning Update 3/23/09

By: Van Wilder

Van Wilder — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:27:47 +0000

I had also heard the Emergisoft buzz two weeks ago. Going further, sales staff went from 4 or 5 down to 1.

By: Twitteree

Twitteree — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:49:41 +0000

Heard on Twitter: “Who says elephants can’t dance in hospitals? Well, given the past track record of said elephants in the data centers of said hospitals…”

By: odd job

odd job — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:41:44 +0000

Emergisoft did have both new sales and client upgrades/expansions in ‘08…but I think ‘09 looks pretty bleak…yes, I’d be concerned as a customer.

By: CIO who's been there

CIO who's been there — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:10:39 +0000

Ever wonder why these outsourcing announcements all sound alike? ” . . . our strategic relationship with X will allow us to leap ahead in our technology capabilities and reach our goals faster than we could on our own. We also expect to see a net savings over the term of the contract . . . “? In the vast majority of cases, these contracts end before the initial term. Why? It turns out that you can’t “leap ahead” without paying for it (also called “change orders”), and you can always predict a “net savings” if you project your own costs high enough. Fundamentally the outsourcee wants to have the best technology at the lowest cost; the outsourcer wants to make money, which it can only do by providing less of a service that is hard to measure in any case. Returns to scale in computing are certainly possible, but outsourcing has yet to demonstrate that this can be done while continuing to meet customer expectations and requirements.

By: Dierdre

Dierdre — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:08:23 +0000

Rob Kolodner is civil service, but the position of National Coordinator is not. An exception was made to confirm him in the post which has always been intended to be political. There are rules against permanently converting political appointments to civil service jobs. The outgoing administration usually does this for a few people anyway, but they did not do it for Kolodner, whose political affiliation lies elsewhere.