What Windows 10 And The DVLA Cock Up Tells Us About Public Sector ICT

On the one hand, we have a really important piece of software technology meant to help millions of people be more productive and help save their time.

Let's look at it: it's a modern, convincing piece of software technology that is so hip the people behind it say we should think of it as a 'Tesla' - the electric sports car so leading edge and fashionable that one owner has said the name should be changed to something more like 'electric cruisebeast.'

On the other... a really important piece of software technology meant to help millions of people be more productive and help save their time.

And we can't look at it.

Because it keeps crashing. (Pun intended!)

Is it fair to compare the great job Microsoft has done leaping ahead with its new Windows 10 OS with the pretty disappointing fiasco of the first day of a major new national digital service, the DVLA's paperless tax disc system, which simply fell over from driver demand?

Maybe it isn't, but the point is that for all our brave talk about agile, cloud, digital first, when it comes down to it we are still not anywhere as slick and responsive as the private sector.

Sure, MSFT has had more than its share of problems and we'll probably start hear the first Windows 10 knocking stories next week. And we're sure the DVLA system will stagger back up soon.

But for us here at 24n, this unfortunate coincidental launch of brave new things does rather underline how far we still need to go.

What do you think? Let me know!

Cheers, speak soon

Gary Flood

Editor

24n.biz

@24n.biz