He spoke today welcoming an all-of-government license agreement between the Department of Inland Revenue and Novell, saying "this agreement marks increased opportunities for government agencies, giving them greater flexibility and freedom in their choice of software."
But whether those departments will make use of the contract or not is up to them, he said.
The SSC has not had much luck sheparding the heterogeneous cats of government into anything like a homogeneous computing environment, not even for as obviously beneficial a concept as government-wide e-procurement, but it does run the e-government portal and is responsible for recommending on "good practice" when it comes to government computing.
"Government agencies will make their purchasing decisions based on cost, functionality, interoperability, and security," he said.
Mr Millar did not disclose exactly what the IRD was running on Novellware or how much the agreement cost but did say it was nice to have some options.
"Open source is a viable alternative or, in some cases, a complementary option to proprietary solutions. This deal provides a framework for other government agencies to introduce or augment their use of open source solutions.
"Robust competition in the government software market is good for New Zealand and has the added advantage of ensuring the government avoids dependence on a limited range of software products and services," Mr Millar said.
Quelle: The National Business Review, 18.10.2005
