

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer  (Source: intomobile)


I. Armed Forces Hop Onboard Windows 8


Windows 8 Surface






II. Commanders Praise Microsoft's Focus on Mobility


U.S. Navy





Comments     Threshold


Our tax dollars at work
By AssSpelunker on 1/3/2013 2:05:33 PM , Rating: 4
$617 million for an unnecessary change that most will see as a difficult to use "downgrade"... Makes sense

RE: Our tax dollars at work
By retrospooty on 1/3/2013 2:12:56 PM , Rating: 3
Yup... that is one shining example of what goes on everywhere. The DOD did that, and another govt. branch buys 200 standard wooden handle hammers at $199 each, while another pays 8x the going rate for carpet to have the office re-carpeted. Why? The software maker, tool manufacturer and carpet company paid hefty campaign contributions to both dems and reps in congress to vote their way when needed and grant lucrative contracts to... That is where our money goes. Its not really "mis-spending" and "inefficiency" so much as it is downright crime.

RE: Our tax dollars at work
By chripuck on 1/3/2013 2:41:52 PM , Rating: 1
You clearly have no clue how budgeting works in any large organization, government or otherwise.

The facts are as simple as this: if you don't use your budget in full this year, it WILL be reduced next year. What commanding officer, SVP or other leader wants their allotment of the pie to be smaller? None, so they spend it on anything they can so that their budget stays the same.

There are no shadow organizations, lobbyists don't have direct access to the DoD and a few senators don't have the collective push to force someone who reports to the President to do their bidding. Stop drinking the kool-aid...

RE: Our tax dollars at work



RE: Our tax dollars at work

RE: Our tax dollars at work
By Zuul on 1/3/2013 3:57:14 PM , Rating: 2
I agree - often people completely do not understand how budgeting works.

I'm just glad they actually bought something they could use. In a few places i've worked, some teams will have extra budget at the end of the year and end up buying things like pickup trucks that they just dump in the middle of some mudhole so they don't lose that part of their budget.

If you have a surplus in your budget, they simply deduct that surplus out of your budget next year. The incentive to save money happens at the transactional level while there's no incentive to save at a budget level. A few companies have been looking at zero-based budgeting. However, that puts significant administrative burden because before you get dollars, you have to justify every dollar spent upfront. In theory it sounds good, in practice, it prevents the company from being more nimble and prolongs the procurement cycle.

RE: Our tax dollars at work

RE: Our tax dollars at work
By Zaranthos on 1/3/2013 5:11:05 PM , Rating: 3
Mmm, kool-aid. Because our massive debt shouldn't make anyone think about spending less because spending more is the best thing for the country. Fail.

RE: Our tax dollars at work
By timothyd97402 on 1/3/2013 3:41:11 PM , Rating: 2
Do much research first or just spout off with anecdotes that have been floating around for years? I am sick of government bashing clods tearing down our country.

There probably is a graft, corruption, wink and nod going on. If you have any evidence there are whistleblower hotlines to call. If you don't why are you posting?

RE: Our tax dollars at work

Do you really think this stuff happens by accident?

RE: Our tax dollars at work
By Paj on 1/4/2013 7:21:03 AM , Rating: 4
But hey, its OK to fund the military industrial complex and make a bunch of cool planes and stuff, amirite?

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RE: Our tax dollars at work


There is NO excuse for viruses in business.

RE: Our tax dollars at work
Pot, its the kettle, you're black.



RE: Our tax dollars at work
By Zok on 1/3/2013 2:26:10 PM , Rating: 2
It may sound like a waste, but you have to consider that the DoD employs ~ 700,000 civilians and ~1,420,000 active duty military personnel (plus 1,100,000 reserves). If you only include civilians and active duty military, that's under $300/person for licenses for Windows, Office, Sharepoint, and (most importantly!) top-tier support. Additionally, it's likely that there are more license "seats" than personnel (there are more PCs than people), plus licenses for reserves, it may very well be under $200 per seat. That's a very good deal if you ask me.

RE: Our tax dollars at work
This just in Start8 sings a contract for 10mil.

RE: Our tax dollars at work

Difficult to use? Really? Sorry but it's not.

RE: Our tax dollars at work
By nafhan on 1/3/2013 5:16:19 PM , Rating: 3
I think you're wrong. That's not what's going on here. From the DOD press release:
The deal, led by the Army Contracting Command in collaboration with the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Army and the Air Force, demonstrates the best pricing DOD has received to date for Microsoft desktop and server software licenses , officials said.
It sounds like MS is offering them a (massive?) discount to start using Windows 8. They also specifically mention the AF saving $50 mil per year and the Army saving $70 mil per year.

At the same time, while it's hardly a "major score" for MS in monetary terms, it certainly is in terms of installed users.

RE: Our tax dollars at work
Not this crap again.




RE: Our tax dollars at work
By rsmech on 1/6/2013 11:37:41 PM , Rating: 2
what is technology is 8 lacking that 7 has? Where is it a downgrade.

RE: Our tax dollars at work
By dragonbif on 1/7/2013 12:41:04 PM , Rating: 2
Hate to tell you this but when you renew your agreement with Microsoft it is always for the latest software. They would not let you do one for say Windows XP or NT. We renew ours every year but we could do a 3 years like the DOD did.
This is standard stuff so I do not see a problem with it considering how many PCs they must have.

O and you do not have to buy PCs with the OEM Windows installed.

RE: Our tax dollars at work
By dragonbif on 1/7/2013 12:45:10 PM , Rating: 2
One more thing, you do not have to install Windows 8. With most agreements you can go back to the previous OS as long as it is still supported by Microsoft.

