IP: Bank chief blasts Microsoft and IT industry -" He said the United States' IT industry had "singlehandedly wrecked the world economy over the last couple of years". "

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Bill Daul <bdaul () pacbell net>
Organization: Knowledge Engineering
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 00:39:06 -0800
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Bank chief blasts Microsoft and IT industry - smh.com.au - Biz-Tech


http://www.smh.com.au/news/0202/28/biztech/biztech100.html

 Bank chief blasts Microsoft and IT industry
 

           Commonwealth Bank of Australia managing director David Murray
today launched a scathing attack on the information technology industry,
accusing it of failing to deliver promises.

 Mr Murray said the Commonwealth Bank and other IT users had "some serious
issues" with the industry.

 He said the United States' IT industry had "singlehandedly wrecked the
world economy over the last couple of years".

 Mr Murray singled out Microsoft for particular criticism, saying the IT
giant had failed to deliver its promises.

 In an address to the World Congress on IT in Adelaide today, Mr Murray said
promised productivity gains had not been felt from the use of IT.

 "It has done enormous things for our institution but it is not as
straightforward as people make out," Mr Murray told the congress.

 "Microsoft ... said that IT was going to lead the growth of the world
economy. 

 "Let me tell you that the IT industry in the United States has
singlehandedly wrecked the world economy over the last couple of years.

 "That's because the promises were large and by the time they were turned
into investor promises at the casino end of the equity market, then the
investments that were made were entirely unrealistic.

 "Unless we make it genuinely easier, then we have to be careful about all
of this hype." 

 Mr Murray compared the situation of the car in Australia about  50 years
ago to the broadband demands of the IT industry today.

 "If Henry Ford or Alfred Sloane, the General Motors man, had come to
Australia 50 years ago and told the government we have to put out eight lane
highways all over this country ... they would have been told to go home," Mr
Murray said. 

 "The issue is that we might put out the eight lane highway but unless the
stuff we put on it is far easier to use, unless it delivers the productivity
benefits somewhere near what we are promised, then this generally applicable
technology will not do for our society what we want."

 He said Microsoft had intimated "unless you get aboard this (broadband
technology), you can't have productivity savings".

 "If Australia has been so bad in laying out its broadband, how come we have
the highest productivity gain in the OECD in the last decade?

 "I think we have to take a breath here.

 "We should not be confused about why we are using technology: it's about
fulfilling customer needs, its about providing productivity and a
shareholder return and enhancing the existing business strategy.

 "If it doesn't meet these tests, then question its value."

 At a later media conference, Mr Murray said: "Microsoft will have us
believe if we don't do what they say, Australia will somehow fall behind in
the world stakes and the evidence is just not that".

 He said the promise of a paperless office was "an incredible myth".

 "The same technology that was supposed to make us paperless has allowed the
proliferation of papers in various forms that has limited productivity," Mr
Murray said. 

 "I'm not putting the position that Bill Gates is no good and Microsoft has
got it all wrong. 

 "I'm just saying that as the most successful implementer of this stuff in
our industry in Australia, the outcome falls well short of the promise and
we need a return on our investment."

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