[HLUG] HMRC Applications

[Steve Horsfield]

I was not exactly surprised to read that HMRC has made significant savings
on the upgrade of its existing browser-based applications from IE6 to more
recent versions of Internet Explorer. Apparently the increase in support
costs for legacy operating systems and browsers had made this quite
imperative. The saving, as against the cost of achieving this through the
existing outsourced HMRC IT contract, arose from placing the upgrade in the
hands of an independent company of former Microsoft employees blessed with
insight into the working of its browsers.

Well might you enquire, what is the point of the Cabinet Office reporting
on the potential savings from open source and non-proprietary systems when
HMRC continues to pay for its applications to be written for specific
browsers?


Steve Horsfield