Should UK.gov save money by looking for open source alternatives to Microsoft? You decide
- Reference: 1755240306
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/08/15/microsoft_debate_poll/
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Microsoft in the public sector
This debate series was prompted by our reporting on the [2]recent UK government commitments to the tech giant .
Wednesday's [3]motion was for keeping Microsoft in the public sector. The debate continued with an opposing motion on [4]Thursday , and today, Reg readers can have their say via the poll below. If you don't find an option that suits you, please weigh in on the comments platform below. If you're not yet a commenter, you can sign up [5]here .
Between a taxation rock, a spending hard place, and a giant boulder of debt, those in charge of government finances have little room for maneuver.
Imagine, then, the idea that the [6]UK public sector expects to spend around £9 billion on Microsoft products and services over five years under its current agreement. Some would argue that much of that proprietary software is available elsewhere, free and open source.
The MoU signed with the Redmond giant last year is set to see £1.9 billion ($2.57 billion) spent under the arrangement during each of its years.
To put that into perspective, the government's capital spending program for school building is [7]expected to be £6.8 billion ($9.2 billion) in 2025-26 . Alternatively, changes to winter fuel allowance payments to pensioners, which prompted a volley of criticism from all sides, [8]were set to save just £1.4 billion ($1.9 billion) a year when they were first announced.
[9]Meta training AI on social media posts? Only 7% in Europe think it's OK
[10]Banning VPNs to protect kids? Good luck with that
[11]Poll of 1,000 senior techies: Euro execs mull use of US clouds
[12]EU tells US scientists to dump Trump for a lab in Europe
The government says the Strategic Partnership Arrangement 2024 (SPA24) would offer "enhanced value across Microsoft's portfolio of products and services."
Any tough negotiations are unlikely to do Microsoft any harm. Its revenue rose 18 percent to [13]$76.4 billion in the most recent quarter, while net margins are sustained at about 36 percent and have not dipped under 30 percent in more than five years. Revenue growth and margins together are propelling the company's staggering valuation of more than $3.5 trillion.
[14]
The Register has heard from those advocating a FOSS alternative to Microsoft, and from those who think the [15]public sector needs to improve its buying , but should stick with the Redmond giant, and those who feel [16]a better balance between proprietary and FOSS would help get value for money.
[17]
But what do you think?
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[1] https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/one-year-labour-economy
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/07/uk_microsoft_spending/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/13/debate_for_microsoft_in_public_sector/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/14/debate_microsoft_in_public_sector
[5] https://account.theregister.com/register/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/07/uk_microsoft_spending/
[7] https://ifs.org.uk/articles/what-spending-review-really-means-schools
[8] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/29/winter-fuel-cut-savings-will-be-far-less-than-reeves-expected-new-analysis-finds
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/07/meta_training_ai_on_social/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/31/banning_vpns_to_protect_kids/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/28/uk_execs_cloud/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/06/eu_us_science_scheme/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/30/microsoft_hails_cloud_and_ai/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aJ8FPjSDfC_4SyVw9YTzFAAAAFY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/14/debate_for_microsoft_in_public_sector
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/15/debate_microsoft_in_public_sector
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aJ8FPjSDfC_4SyVw9YTzFAAAAFY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Extra option?
The whole allocation of funding in the public sector needs an overhaul. You are allocated £x and if you don't spend it, you get less next year, so the wastage in order to ensure that £x is spent, is considerable. That needs serious investigation throughout public sector.
Investing in in-house dev teams, in my personal view, is long overdue. Hard work, sure. Needs experienced and focused management, definitely. A price worth paying for independence, control and freedom from US influence? Yes, in my personal opinion.
Re: Extra option?
You are allocated £x and if you don't spend it
You got to love the fake road works everywhere. Digging a small hole, filling it. Road blocked for a week.
Re: Extra option?
Yes - in an ideal world. But great negotiators are a rare breed and worth megamoney. More to mega companies like Microsoft then to government civil service structures. Excellent negotiators will follow the money. Realistically governments will always be in second place around the deal table.
The trick is to not play the game, or as much as possible. That, in this context, means more FOSS for which only the service contracts have to be negotiated. Mostly with smaller companies who have to compete against each other so you are still at a disadvantage but less so. Maybe the safest strategy to avoid disruption (or an excuse for other peoples failures) is not to pre-emptively throw MS out but to let FOSS in, expand and then engulf the desktop.
That strategy worked well for ... ?????
The hard bit is when MS realise it they will attempt to buy off the politicians, advisers etc. How to resist that? Don't ask Munich.
Re: Extra option?
If those "smaller companies" fail to negotiate good terms with the Treasury, they'll simply go out of business, leaving their software unsupported. Realistically, a high-FOSS mix for the public sector would inevitably mean - sooner rather than later - an absolutely huge team of software engineers employed by the taxpayer to do their maintenance. I haven't crunched any numbers on what that would cost, but my guess is - way more than MS licensing.
It would provide a degree of independence, which is something, certainly. But how much are we willing to pay for it?
You should, but not just because of this.
This is an actual f#$ing quote from an exechole at Microsoft:
'The next version of Windows will become "more ambient, pervasive, and multi-modal" as AI transforms how users interact with computers, Microsoft's Windows chief Pavan Davuluri said in a company video. Davuluri, Corporate Vice President and head of Windows, said that voice will emerge as a primary input method alongside keyboard and mouse, with the operating system gaining context awareness to understand screen content and user intent through natural language. Windows interfaces, he said, will appear fundamentally different within five years as the platform becomes increasingly agentic. The transformation will rely on both local processing power and cloud computing capabilities to deliver seamless experiences where users can speak to their computers while simultaneously typing or inking.'
So MS is giving zero f@#$s for usability or data safety. The future of Windows is all voice driven AI.
If UK.gov wants to get anything done AT ALL (maybe it doesn't), it's time to bail for something that works.
Democratic change?
Perhaps it's time we stopped voting for politicians and started voting for multinational companies. They make most big decisions.
Re: Democratic change?
Voting for/against multinationals has mostly be an option for years. That is what your wallet is for. Use it while you still can.
Re: Democratic change?
The new lot will get a little bit of foreplay and then will just beg for more brown envelopes.
Issue is not with voting, but with bodies like SFO, NCA, MI5 not doing their jobs.
Does it matter?
Given the track record of both parties, whatever platform they use will be the basis for severely over-budget and overdue projects that deliver unusable end product. I have no belief whatsoever that Birmingham could have avoided bankruptcy by going FOSS, it just would've got screwed up differently. Oh, and the usual big consultancy firms would have a field day...
Extra option?
Overhaul your tech buyers has a kernel of truth because it's been glaringly obvious they've had their pants pulled down and used as a party favor by vendors, hardware and software, but a good hard kick in the balls for Microsoft is no bad thing either, so how about get better tech buyers and ditch MS for FOSS?