Stories by: John Grant

In April, the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner, announced the appointment of UK efficiency expert, Sir Peter Gershon, to lead an independent review of the Australian Government's use and management of ICT. The terms of reference of the review are far reaching and of critical importance to our local industry. However given that it is an initiative of the Minister of Finance, its major thrust is cost-effective investment with an emphasis on consolidation.

I remember when I started in this industry with IBM, a key sales strategy was to create FUD -- Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt -- in the minds of our customers. The idea was that if we covered prospective customers with a thick layer of FUD, going with the 'big, safe' IBM would be an easy and logical decision. In those days 'no one ever got fired for buying IBM' was the subtle subtext in IT decision making.