IT teams not living up to public sector demands

Need to get tough

Workers in the public sector are increasingly dissatisfied with the IT that is intended to support them.

silicon.com Public Sector

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In a study of more than 200 local authority officials conducted by internet services specialist Huddle.net, a third said they could not access information they needed to do their jobs. More than half said they were disappointed by a lack of innovation in their IT services.

Some had a few constructive criticisms to give to their IT departments, with a third suggesting the government's IT problems could be solved by buying from local UK-based companies rather than multinational conglomerates. One armchair IT guru advised buying departments to "get better advice before buying and not to buy for buying's sake".

Most of the respondents believed their IT departments were too flexible with their suppliers and wanted them to be harsher with IT providers that failed to deliver on their contractual obligations. One helpfully suggested: "If the IT doesn't work, we simply won't pay for it."