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<P><FONT size=2>---<BR>> So this is what's being supplied under the $22
million deal?<BR>---<BR><BR>Hi Con,<BR><BR>As the director of a company that
sells IT products, you're aware the savings a very big organization can get for
the products its users want can be phenomenal.<BR><BR>At the Department of
Education and Training, we're talking about up to 200,000 computers here,
especially if you include the ones not in schools but in Department
offices. <A
href="http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/ict/computer/inschools/pdf/ITstatsJuly2004.pdf">http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/ict/computer/inschools/pdf/ITstatsJuly2004.pdf</A><BR><BR>You
gave the figures yourself - a $20 million agreement over three years means about
$35 annually for each computer, for all these products: <A
href="http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/ict/software/microsoft/agreements.htm">http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/ict/software/microsoft/agreements.htm</A><BR><BR>And
on top of all of this, teachers can install back in their own homes the
following products: upgrade version of XP, Office Pro, Front Page, Visual Studio
.Net (pro version).<BR><BR>That's amazing.<BR><BR>A single Red Hat Workstation
has an annual fee of three hundred US dollars. <A
href="http://www.redhat.com.au/software/rhel/compare/client/">http://www.redhat.com.au/software/rhel/compare/client/</A><BR><BR>It's
up to organizations to do a similar sort of package deal with Red Hat to bring
that down - <STRONG>if they really want the product in the first place</STRONG>.
And that's the key.<BR><BR>People don't automatically want the cheapest product,
they also want the one that suits them best - that's what Sun found with
Telstra: <A
href="http://cio.co.nz/cio.nsf/0/1AC9651E6AABD504CC256F090077DFC9?OpenDocument">http://cio.co.nz/cio.nsf/0/1AC9651E6AABD504CC256F090077DFC9?OpenDocument</A><BR><BR>Cheers,<BR>Clarky<BR><BR></FONT></P><p></p><p><b>Important - </b>This email and any attachments may be confidential. If received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of Education & Training.</BODY></HTML>