This “Gershon Report” has essentially handed the various departmental heads across most area’s of government a vehicle, not for cost savings, but for driving their own personal development and career agenda’s.

The impact to moral and productivity is quite obvious here at the coalface, focus of the evil “IT Consultants” that I know are quickly changing from, “Lets Get the job done” to “I am not sure thats within my scope”.

The real winner in this situation will not be the government, the writing is on the wall as senior departmental staff are scurrying around and attempting to work out how to meet their ICT support commitments without directly employing the evil IT consultant. So in step the dark forces of the multinational outsourcing and consulting agencies, their claims of “we can do that for you at a nominal cost” is the current catch-cry.

So essentially, everyone is happy:

1. Mr gershon gets his exorbitant paycheck,

2. The government get yet another redundant policy that will ensure jobs for the boys for a couple more years after all you have to put people you can trust on these types of committees,

3. Senior public servants get to further their carreer goals whilst indulging in their favoourite pass time of treading on anyone who they think may be better than them

4. The outsourcing and consulting agencies reap yet more millions of australian tax dollars, for what is at best adequate service.

5. and the evil IT consultant moves back to private industry, taking the multitude of skills and knowlege away with them.

at the end of the day we can expect that the government ICT spend will at least quadruple over the next 2 years, but the manufacturers of torches and pitchforks must now be including Mr Gershon in their daily prayers, as their stock prices are going up for the first time since the post Y2k Panic.