Thanks for the feedback everyone. I agree that Open Source would help but how do you avoid the problems below? > This whole process supports an industry of leeches who are masters at > selling BS to governments. They know exactly how to maneuver through > the government agencies, kiss the right butts, and get the contracts, > thanks to lowballing their quotes with lame solutions. Skilled, > talented folks get pushed right out the door because - well - skill and > talent tends to cost more. Talented people aren't willing to work for > $4.00 an hour. Morons are. Morons also don't need to worry about > reputation since they can just sucker the next agency out of some money > and move along. and... In the state government, the acquisition of technology seems to be driven by hired consultants. They usually set the RFP's and, I believe, almost have to have a conflict of interest to be successful. In essence, a consultant usually has pre-existing relationships with vendors. Oftentimes, that means that they will choose the technology they know over the one they don't. They will probably slant any RFP to see that it goes to one of the vendors whose tech they trust, even if an alternative might be cheaper or better. How do we avoid this situation? Is there an improvement to the RFP or technology acquisition process you can envision? T. Kenji Sugahara Chief Operating Officer counterclaim Phone: 541-484-9235 Fax: 541-484-9193
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