Leader: Newham's tough choices

The London borough of Newham ranks up there with Munich in Germany and Bergen in Norway as a battleground for open-source software that is well-known to many in IT. But unlike those continental cities, Newham is famous as the site of a recent defeat for those backing free (as in unrestricted) software.

Does this make Newham and its IT chiefs closed-minded, naïve or even cunning in negotiating licences, as some would have us believe? It's hard to answer every such question but a deal announced by the council on Friday with HP, for managed services, suggests there is more to tell on their approach to technology than a headline-grabbing Microsoft versus Linux frenzy.

Newham isn't exactly the most prosperous part of the UK and that makes getting the most out of IT imperative. In an interview with silicon.com, the authority's head of ICT, Richard Steel, showed an encouraging approach to working with this major partner.

Newham has been open about many details of the HP contract. As a public sector body, a lot has to be disclosed but his openness about selection is to be applauded.

Steel admits that the Microsoft/Linux episode at the start of the year means there is huge scrutiny on IT decisions. Nothing like industry, media and - one would hope - citizen attention to focus the mind.

Per-seat flexibility, linked to the decision to go with software from Microsoft, a major HP partner, comes somewhere near the top of Newham's list of priorities. But why agree to a desktop refresh every three years?

"We can sweat the assets and we have been doing that in the past," Steel said. "But we want a properly planned approach, managing proactively. Sometimes [refreshes] will take longer than that, sometimes less."

We like the sound of this planned approach and of working with a key partner, in the form of HP, closely. Let's hope Newham can exert just enough control.

Steel's aim is to take it from a laggard in the technology stakes to one that can be ahead of other local authorities. One, even, that then shares its insight with its equivalents across the UK.

Friday's announcement wasn't about outsourcing, a contentious issue, nowhere less than in local government as episodes this year in Bradford and Swansea have shown.

Steel said: "We have looked at that from time to time. We're not dogmatic about it and it won't be ruled out. But we have no strong appetite for it in the council and our internal ICT service has shown it can compete with the best, when we've benchmarked it."

So what we're looking at here is one relatively small area, one that is open to scrutiny, where the IT heads have opted for Microsoft and opted for a major services deal, though not outsourcing. The past tells us that things can go wrong. The public sector doesn't have an enviable record.

This publication isn't particularly bothered which software Newham or anyone else uses or which companies they turn to for services. We only care that the deals have the desired effects. Good luck.