Telstra Used Linux To Get Microsoft Discounts 237
awful writes "Last year Slashdot ran a story about Australia's largest telco moving to Linux desktops. Turns out it was all a way to get some tasty discounts from Microsoft. The Australian is reporting that Telstra just signed a four-year deal with MS for $AU15-20 million, for 40,000 users. No figures yet on how much of a discount Telstra got, but MS might want to rethink handing back all its cash to investors if this is how they're going to do business from now on ..."
Re:They're paying $500 per user. (Score:5, Informative)
$125 AUD =~ $87 USD
Well true it's $500 per user... (Score:5, Informative)
Currency conversions (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Currency conversions (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Next time Gadget, I'll get you! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:CAD ~= USD??? (Score:3, Informative)
There's nothing in the story about USD. This is Australian dollars we're talking about.
$1 CAD ~= $1.07 AUD
Pretty damned close if you ask me.
Telstra are scum... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Way to do business (Score:3, Informative)
However, most of these are the sort of calls where the business is crumbling, while the best techs in the company all frantically try and recover an exchange server database where every second or third byte has been replaced with 00000000. [Replace with high severity scenario of your choice.]
Re:"discount" ?? (Score:3, Informative)
The Truth (Score:2, Informative)
The truth of the matter is that Sun (the chosen, and ONLY Linux vendor) couldn't deliver an acceptable alternative platform, and Telstra refused to consider the vendor which could - Novell.
There were two factors which prevented a Linux deployment, collaboration and existing applications. There is no Sun equivalent to a full Exchange/Outlook environment, particularly for calendaring and availability management. Add Live Communication Server to the mix, and Sun's offering looks pathetic.
For applications, Telstra has literally hundreds of applications developed for a Windows platform over generations since Windows 3.1. Some would run under Crossover, with varying degrees of success, but there were key applications which were too dependent on the Windows platform, and integration with other applications, to be ported, and no budget to have them rewritten. In some cases, the source code for applications could not be found, making the job even worse.
At no time did Microsoft "panic" in relation to this project. They came, did their job, then negotiated a price AFTER the platform decision had been made.
Put simply, Microsoft offered a better solution. It worked, it satisfied users, and (taking ALL costs, not just licences, into account) it was the better financial option.
As for the earlier comment about Telstra running all its applications on a massive Linux grid, the poster must be smoking illegal substances. The bulk of Telstra's data processing occurs on IBM Mainframe or Sun Solaris platforms.
Re:One of the primary difficulties (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Telstra are scum... (Score:4, Informative)
Telstra (formerly Telecom) is THE tele-communications company in australia. It is a government owned monopoly, and doesn't hesitate to screw over the little guy to please the shareholders (like any big public company). On top of that it is bureacratic to the extreme(like anything governmental).
They provide shocking service [zdnet.com.au] for both wired telephone - dialup(particularly in regional areas), and for "broadband" - I'm not with Telstra and I still pay 70AU per month for 12gb on cable. Simply because Telstra can price fix the market. [itworld.com] The mobile phone market is slightly better, with 3 established companies and a few smaller but growing ones.
Lack of Purchasing Ethics (Score:2, Informative)
This comment demonstrates why some admins shouldn't be purchasers. Professional purchasers won't compromise their ethics by releasing a vendors proprietary information (pricing). As a buyer my reputation would suffer if this behavior became common knowledge.
For those who aren't familiar with Supply Ethics visit the Institute of Supply Management's ethics page [www.ism.ws].
Re:Go Back Three Spaces - Or not (Score:3, Informative)
We'll see... MSFT stopped stock options and replaced them with stock grants, last year. And the recent options grants, back to '99 or so, are all underwater. MSFT brought in another company (Goldman Sachs I believe) to offer a buyout plan for underwater options - pennies per option.