Posts by NeilPost

Re: All ERP migrations are complex

Or in this case doing it in a distributed fashion wasting even more money.

Re: All ERP migrations are complex

Why not. Some standards, consistency, repeatability would be good.

Across the UK - despite their specialness and local policies - they all do the same thing, they all raise money the same way, they all buy services from broadly the same suppliers, they all interface to the NHS and other central government partners, they all work in the same regulatory framework - even the ones in the devolved nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

None of them are special.

That sounds just like DNS.

It could be argued both ways - by using that material, buying that reference book, watching the affiliate as’s on free material you are paying for it to add value and skill set to you as a worker or business.

On the other hand look at publishing, music, video, audio and on-going copyright/usage/royalty payments for utilising such material.

They’d probably need a shit-ton more NVidia GPU’s to process this so they’ll be overjoyed. Environment and electrical consumption not so much.

Re: License fees should be due

As with minor data breach fines - a trivial cost of doing business for breaking the law.

Re: They just can’t stop themselves meddling, can they?

But rightly so, as any credible piece of work should have a referencing bibliography of sources trawled - and if a serious paper an abtract, method, results, discussion and conclusion.

That’s where morons like Tucker Carlson/Lawrence Fox get ridiculed when FullFact, BBC Verify, John Oliver (and others) tear down their fact-lite/less bullshit.

Otherwise generative AI is as authoritative as a Tik-Tok reel or incoherent ranting from the Orange Orangutan and will be discounted as hearsay by anyone able to demonstrate an iota of critical thinking (except by the Kool-aid drinkers then!).

Re: Progress

After all the strong FUD talk of new GDPR legislation and penalties, reputational damage etc as ever with UK Regulators they pussied out.

One of the defining cases was British Airways data breach and customers info share.

https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/insights/publications/2020/10/british-airways-ultimately-fined-20m-for-personal-data-breach-by-the-uk-ico-under-the-gdpr

Fined £183m. In the end reduced to £20m.

British Airways pleaded COVID and got let off with chump change to them. The deal should have been defer the fine until business stabilised and returned to profitability … and then 20% of global profits over 20 years (inc interest) until paid off reflecting the short-term Covid cash flow challenges.

Inadequate enforcement, now just a relatively insignificant cost of doing business and no C-Level jail time.

I didn’t get my tax bill from HMRC permanently reduced to 11% of the original value ‘because of Covid’ and it’s existential threat to my financial viability.

Fuckers.

Nice spending money that could have been punative damages on the all (34,000) staff uniform Oliver Boateng change last year. Double fuckers.

Re: Sounds like...

Metres not meters.

Re: Irony

You mean like Drax burning CO2 emission free Wood-pellets from the USA ?

Re: Why is Paula Vennells still walking the streets?

As Post Office has statutory prosecution powers (which should be cancelled in law) guilty of Malicious Prosecution and Misconduct in a Public Office.

Both are on the statute book as laws.

Re: "Sixty people died before just seeing any sort of justice served"

Though the buck stopped there. I’m sure the millions of pounds in remuneration and bonuses ‘earned’ will keep her warm at night. Esp. As she is not dead or was in jail.

Hoping she doesn’t just play the indifference/Rupert and James Murdoch (Phone Hacking Inquiry) ‘we didn’t know’ shoulder shrugging defence card and say she is sorry.

Re: First Class

The Post Office as a ‘shop’ for assorted services was separated from the Royal Mail as the UK Public Service Operator for postal service long ago by this Tory Government.

Unfortunately no one wanted to buy it unlike the RM…. Which is now equally in the shit for other reasons.

As a ‘State Enterprise’ I think it may meet this threshold too.

https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/misconduct-public-office

… though my expectations are low as Boris Johnson was never brought to account whilst as disgraced Prime Minister.

Re: Or your best solution is...

Agree - everyone who buys a SmartTV is going to leave is disconnected from the Internet!! Esp. The less than tech savvy ones/

Re: Problems and solutions not welcome

… or not having a hostile parking environment in your expensive to stay decrepit town centre and then wondering why all of the businesses have fucked off to new build out of town strip-malls… leaving hairdressers, charity shops, kebab shops, Polski Sklep’s and bookies/slots as your town centre anchor businesses.

Re: Problems and solutions not welcome

… well any Police Vehicle, Highways Agency Vehicle, Ambulance etc once received goes out for extensive fit out before it’s ’to spec’ and ready for use.

Quite why the English Highways Agency drive BMW X5/Volvo XC90’s (and other premium SUV’s) … and not a Mercedes Sprinter or Ford Transit van is another baffling question.

Re: Problems and solutions not welcome

Enterprise Resource Planning…

Is a Council (or a University like say Edinburgh) working in a regulatory framework ‘an enterprise’??

Re: Problems and solutions not welcome

… yet they all do the same thing … working within the same regulatory framework.

Oxfordshire County Council, and Northamptonshire Country Council are not ‘competing for business’ with Warwickshire County Council and should have almost 100% overlap on common purpose with Strathclyde Regional Council or Birmingham City Council.

Some glimmers of hope with ‘shared services’ … but a long way to go.

Changes to councils do not help.

Cumberland and Westmorland being brought together in 1974 into Cumbria County Council … only to be broken up again in 2023 into Cumberland and Westmoreland Unitary Authorities later for example is strategically illiterate. Inc the 6 district councils contained within.

The same fate will await Birmingham City Council… and the whole Oracle misadventure will end up being junked as does not fit the end shape of local government.

Re: Problems and solutions not welcome

At the central Government level a scalable repeatable standard system should designed.

Councils all basically do the same statutory and non-statutory things, all have the same partners and agencies that need interface ro, all have the same suppliers and all have the same ‘public’ to serve and run various legal ffanewoeka for (and elections). They are also full of terrible archaic business processes that should not be adapted to all of the time. Streamline and standardise wherever possible. Remove cottage industry.

Unfortunately the Crown Commercial part of the Caninet Office is just interested in endless rounds of procurement frameworks and not making repeatable working Government solutions.

As you say they exist in the same statutory framework. You can add NHS, Universities, School and all Government to this woeful list.

Shame the CCTA was junked in favour of deal for consultancies and procurement

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Computer_and_Telecommunications_Agency

‘Just works and is not shit’ (and over budget, is late and under delivered) would be a good place to aim for.

Re: Cloud

“ That question would be irrelevant if government ran its own datacentres”

It does.