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US Military Signs Modernization Deal With Microsoft
Dupple writes with news that Microsoft has signed an agreement with the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and the Defense Information Systems Agency to modernize the software those organizations use. According to Microsoft, the deal will cover 75% of all Department of Defense personnel, and bring to them the latest versions of SharePoint, Office, and Windows. The deal awards Microsoft $617 million, which is after discounts to the software totaling in the tens of millions. Interestingly, DISA's senior procurement executive said, "[The agreement] recognizes the shift to mobility. Microsoft is committed to making sure that the technology within the agreement has a mobile-first focus, and we expect to begin to take advantage of Microsoft’s mobile offerings as part of our enterprise mobility ecosystem."
"a mobile-first focus, and we expect to begin to take advantage of Microsoftâ(TM)s mobile offerings as part of our enterprise mobility ecosystem."
NURSE!
...the US will only be able to make war if they can figure out the Metro interface.
I work for the dept of defense, and this just makes me cringe. Mobility? That sounds great, except the only electronic devices allowed in cleared spaces are old-skool one-way pagers. And the Army has been looking into getting Android devices for troops. So much for that apparently. The latest OS? They better fucking not load Windows 8 on my desktop. I'd say I would do something drastic, but more likely I'll just cry myself to sleep. And more Sharepoint? We use Sharepoint at work, and everyone hates it. We're currently looking at finding a suitable replacement. I'm going to go get a drink.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
I see you want to obliterate Wackistan with 10 drops before their operatives poison Washington. Can I help?
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Too bad. It most certainly is:
As the names imply, those two named configurations (Army Golden Master and Air Force Standard Desktop Configuration) are the standard desktop deploy images for the overwhelming majority of the normal day-to-day systems for those respective two services... and they're definitely transitioning to 8. So yaaay. I definitely picked a good time to get the hell out of the service.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Welcome to the MS experience - Metro. Shoot to kill in style!
Instructions:
To aim and launch missile:
1) Swipe the screen to bring up the monitor section.
2) Monitor your target and doubletap on the suspect.
3) Swipe an "X" across each target you want to eliminate.
4) Doubletap to confirm.
If you get an error message: 16472112.13a41d1e.00123dq2.1337effd
then please contact customer service. Thank you for sharing your Microsoft Experience.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
I work for the DoD. I predict this will end up costing 10x as much, take at least 5 years longer than proposed and in the end deliver less than 30% of the functionality actually required. I've seen it happen time and again with only a few of the more egregious failures actually becoming public.
It's not Windows 8 I'm concerned with... it's forcing Sharepoint on the Military...
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
The deal awards Microsoft $617 million, which is after discounts to the software totaling in the tens of millions.
So... between $20 and $90 million out of a $617 million deal is 3.2%-14%. The most powerful military force in the world, and that's the best discount they could get? For sharepoint?
Blue Screen of Death
The DoD already has access through contract to that software. The problem isn't access / purchase of the software, the limitation is the security paperwork needed to USE any of that software! ( https://acc.dau.mil/CommunityBrowser.aspx?id=22645 ) The security paperwork that is required can be long, very long, sometimes HUNDREDS of pages long, and take *YEARS* to get reviewed and approved! The DoD just keeps ADDING bureaucratic layers to this process every year as well! There's a point where the security paperwork just causes more harm than good. By the time you get the software solution engineered and approved, its already most of the way to being completely obsolete! You want to fix the software in the DoD? Fix the process that governs it! Streamline it, cut out the what has by now become multiple layers of unneeded CRAP that's only there because a spot failed at some point, and the solution they came up with simply involved just adding more layers to an already unruly behemoth!
TL;DR - Good luck M$! By the time you get Windows 8 approved, it'll be 4-8 years later.
We in Europe welcome this development.
I can't help but wonder what the cost of using Open Source Solutions would have been? My main fear will not be some power like China obtaining secrets, but some bored 15 year old.
I can see the head lines now,
"Teenager aquires robotic mule and uses it to buy Hamburgers and Milk Shakes in a Prom Limo using him m$ phone."
It's easy.
They'll all be touch screens with custom launches for the military market. Where you and I might see "marketplace" or "social" or "XBox Live", they'll get options like "Attack" "Retreat" and "Leak classified documents to Assange"
Idiotproof, really.
---
ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
I am in the semiconductor business. Of course we know how heavily dependent the military is on this technology. But yet, often times when a piece of military hardware is built, there is a requirement for a second source. This is in case the first source should falter in delivery. It's a security issue based on that. Why is this any different with software? If the military were to commit themselves to free open source software, they would be more soundly in control of their own security and destiny. This Microsoft deal doesn't make sense at all.
Oh, yeah! Wise guy, huh? Woob woob woob woob! Nyuk! Nyuk!
I'm going to be a bit of a devil's advocate:
There is one good thing about Windows 8 -- Metro apps, or whatever MS calls them now (Microsoft Store Apps.)
These store their files in a restricted subdirectory in the user's homedir, and run in an extremely limited security context.
What I want to see is a real Web browser as a Metro app. This way, if the browser or an add-on running under it gets taken over, it can't get to a full user context, much less get control of the machine [1]. Same with an IMAP client. This is not to replace existing MUAs and Web browsers, but a restricted place to browse privately [2] with less exposure possible to malicious software.
I'm not a fan of workflow with Metro apps, but I do like the security contexts that limit things. It doesn't solve everything, but it is a good tool in a toolbox.
[1]: Nothing is impossible, but restricted contexts are a good start.
[2]: Pr0n sites, most likely.
and how well will that work?? will they be desktop mode most of the time???
Probably. I know my Windows 8 machine is. It's basically just Windows 7, only it uses fewer resources. Don't believe the people who tell you the Start Screen is some kind of apocalypse. It's easy to ignore. I think it would be a dumb move for the military to sign a deal like this only to stick with Windows 7, actually.
Breakfast served all day!
There is no problem that Sharepoint cant solve.
"Not enough money is spent on worthless consultants" is a problem that Sharepoint solves just fine.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
What I want to see is a real Web browser as a Metro app.
Errr, well you know, Windows 8 ships with a Metro flavor of IE 10, and with recent versions of Chrome you can opt to have that run as a Metro app, too. I think Firefox might still be working on it. But there doesn't seem to be anything stopping you from trying one of the others out and seeing how it works for you.
Breakfast served all day!
I think making someone who is heavily armed work with Sharepoint is not going to end well.
The enemy is coming! Shoot! SHOOT!
"Please log in to your Microsoft Windows Live account to access the 'Shoot' application" ... click-swipe-click-type-swipe...
"Thank you. There are 6 friends and 17 enemies on-line. There is a new version of 'Shoot' available, do you want to upgrade?" ... click-swipe-click-type-swipe...
Noo!
"Please note that your current version of 'Shoot' is no longer supported. The application will be disabled"
Arrrggh!!.... (*#@)
Game Over.
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB