Transportation orders hold on Microsoft upgrades

The Transportation Department issued an "indefinite moratorium" on upgrading Microsoft Corp.'s computer software, citing concerns about both cost and technical issues.

The order, first reported by InformationWeek, applies to Windows Vista, the recently released upgrade to Microsoft's operating system. It also covers Office 2007, a productivity suite, and Internet Explorer 7, a Web browser.

The moratorium, outlined in a Jan. 19 memorandum from Daniel Mintz, Transportation's chief information officer, and David Litman, the department's senior procurement executive, does not apply to the Federal Aviation Administration. A similar order covering FAA will be issued separately, the memo stated.

FAA did not respond to a request for an update on whether such an order has been issued, but InformationWeek reported earlier this month that the agency is considering replacing Windows software with Google Apps.

The moratorium on upgrades came as a result of internal recommendations and an analysis by the consulting firm Gartner Group, according to the memo. "There appears to be no compelling technical or business case for upgrading to these new Microsoft software products," the document stated.

The CIO also cited the cost of the upgrades, the limited funding available and the department's move to a new headquarters building as reasons to hold off. The memo pointed to concerns that Office 2007, particularly Microsoft Word, may not be compatible with older software.

An Office of Management and Budget spokeswoman said Transportation's policy memo is consistent with the administration's approach of evaluating the operating system to see if there is a business need to upgrade.

Michael Silver, a Gartner research vice president in the client computing group, said he has seen other government organizations use similar strategies. He said agencies are trying to keep the new technologies from "coming in the backdoor because of all the problems that could ensue" if an agency is not ready to support the upgrade.

"There's security, compliance, support and availability" to consider, Silver said.

Some of Gartner's private sector clients have had individual users install Windows Vista on their personal computers, which has introduced challenges in connecting those PCs to the company network, Silver said.

"Generally, Gartner believes that most organizations need to spend 12 to 18 months testing their applications preparing for the rollout," Silver said. "Users need to know that IT isn't asleep at the switch and is figuring out what they need to do to bring in new technology."

The Transportation memo stated that the software may be acquired for testing purposes only with the approval of the CIO. A follow-up memo will be issued within 180 days that will explain the agency's plan for upgrading laptop and desktop technology.

A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment on the memo, stating that the company has "exhausted this issue over the past two weeks."

The federal government is dominated by computers that run on Windows operating systems. OMB recently issued a memo ordering all agencies to implement a standard security configuration for computers running the Windows XP and Vista operating systems.

Curt Kolcun, vice president at Microsoft Federal, said earlier this week that agencies are considering migrating to Vista, because of its improved security features. Agencies are looking to move "in a planned way," Kolcun says. "They'll slipstream this into their build process."

Kolcun estimated that 50 percent of the government will move to Vista by the end of 2008.