Written question asked by Desmond Swayne (Conservative) on Tuesday, 16 October 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 October 2001. It was answered by Lord Moonie (Labour) on Thursday, 25 October 2001 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department has plans to migrate to Microsoft Windows XP and MS Office XP; what estimate of the costs involved has been made; and what alternatives have been examined.

Answer: Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department has plans to migrate to Microsoft Windows XP and MS Office XP; what estimate of the costs involved has been made; and what alternatives have been examined. [8782] Dr. Moonie: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is planning to integrate its corporate information systems under a single Defence Information Infrastructure programme, the requirements for which are still being formulated. If approved, this programme will assess various options including software provision and any potential move to Microsoft XP products, taking account of costs and benefits. Separately, MOD has recently agreed a defence-wide licensing agreement reflecting the considerable number of Microsoft products already used within the MOD. This agreement would allow MOD to migrate to new products if shown to be cost-effective.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 8782; 373 c318-9W
Session: 2001-02
Subjects: Software Costs Government departments Ministry of Defence Microsoft
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk