G-Cloud team soon to be Eleanor Stewartless

G-Cloud ii has been released. There are now over 3,000 conveniently automated ways for central and local government departments to lose control of their IT through CloudStore.

Eleanor has been closely involved in the project and, as a trained archaeologist, she will be particularly well-placed to go through the remains after it all comes tumbling down, identifying the signs of a once-thriving civilisation. "I look forward to watching it happen from my new role in the FCO", she says – G-Cloud's loss is the Foreign Office's gain.

She will be missed. She said G-Cloud ii would be released on 26 October 2012 and it was. She provided a forum for debate and she confronted criticism openly, e.g. "What the heck can we do to resolve some of the scary and largely unknown legal and policy issues that people are nervous about in a globalised world?". Good question. No answer. But at least she asked. The Foreign Office are lucky.

It's not unknown for Whitehall to be open about criticism. Lin Homer at HMRC is pretty good at it and has been for years. We may yet discover from her, HMRC's side of the story about losing control of all our tax records in the cloud with Skyscape, the one-man company with no track record.

Compare that with the Government Digital Service (GDS).

They said they would announce the names of the UK's so-called "identity providers" by 30 September 2012 and they didn't. Then they said the announcement would be made on 22 October 2012 and it wasn't.

Ask them why they've decided to host GOV.UK on Skyscape and they can't answer.

Post a critical comment* on their blog, and they delete it.

Send them an open letter, and there's no response.

Issue a press release with 17 questions, and you get 0 answers.

Security experts at a Whitehall conference pour scorn on GDS's idea of relying on the social networks for identity assurance and ... silence.

GDS claim to want "participation" as they build the new city on a hill with their (tax) dodgy friends. They don't understand the word. Not the way Eleanor Stewart does.

PS At 10:24 a.m. yesterday a notification was emailed to everyone announcing a new post by Mike Beaven on the GDS blog, Refining transactions with help from the Minister. Click on the link and you get "404: Page Not Found". A Twitter enquiry from Kris Coverdale was met with "we just needed to correct something. We'll be putting it back up again later". That was yesterday. 15 minutes ago, via Tim Lloyd, we have "It wasn't displaying correctly. Trying to resolve now". Just how hard is it to participate?

----------

* A lost fragment from GDS's Less About Identity, More About Trust thread recently discovered by archaeologists. What do GDS know about identity? Or trust? And how many other fragments are missing?

Dear Ms Kidney Thank you for your 12 October 2012 reply. As you will see on the G-Cloud blog, I have read and responded to Eleanor’s reply, pointing out that it’s not the OJEU rules I’m interested in but the rules of common sense. It’s not more information about Skyscape that I’m after but an answer to the question how on earth did GDS go through all the hard work of developing GOV.UK and then host it at a one-man £1,000 company? GOV.UK is meant to be a major national asset and GDS’s decision to host it on Skyscape looks “dangerous, imprudent, ill-advised, unprofessional, wrong-headed, unbusinesslike, undignified and irresponsible” as I say in my open letter to ex-Guardian man Mike Bracken. And what similarly awful decisions do we have to look forward to discovering on 22 October 2012? IdA Day?

G-Cloud team soon to be Eleanor Stewartless

G-Cloud ii has been released. There are now over 3,000 conveniently automated ways for central and local government departments to lose control of their IT through CloudStore.

Eleanor has been closely involved in the project and, as a trained archaeologist, she will be particularly well-placed to go through the remains after it all comes tumbling down, identifying the signs of a once-thriving civilisation. "I look forward to watching it happen from my new role in the FCO", she says – G-Cloud's loss is the Foreign Office's gain.

She will be missed. She said G-Cloud ii would be released on 26 October 2012 and it was. She provided a forum for debate and she confronted criticism openly, e.g. "What the heck can we do to resolve some of the scary and largely unknown legal and policy issues that people are nervous about in a globalised world?". Good question. No answer. But at least she asked. The Foreign Office are lucky.

It's not unknown for Whitehall to be open about criticism. Lin Homer at HMRC is pretty good at it and has been for years. We may yet discover from her, HMRC's side of the story about losing control of all our tax records in the cloud with Skyscape, the one-man company with no track record.

Compare that with the Government Digital Service (GDS).

HMRC and Skyscape 2

The following open letter has been sent by email and by post to Phil Pavitt in his capacity as HMRC Director General Change, Security and Information with a copy to Lin Homer, Chief Executive, HMRC:

[Skyscape has subsequently changed its name to UKCloud: "London – August 1, 2016 – Skyscape Cloud Services Limited, the easy to adopt, easy to use and easy to leave assured cloud services company, has today renamed and relaunched as UKCloud Ltd (www.ukcloud.com), to reinforce the company’s exclusive focus on supporting the UK public sector in the digital transformation of services".]

Open letter [1] Phil Pavitt          Your ref. CETO /03531/2012 HMRC Director General Change, Security and Information 100 Parliament St London SW1A 2BQ          24 October 2012 Dear Mr Pavitt HMRC and Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd Thank you for your letter dated 22 October 2012 [2] in response to my letter to Lin Homer dated 11 October 2012 [3]. The point is well taken, of course, that for security reasons HMRC can’t say what data is held where. We're in we-can-neither-confirm-nor-deny territory here. It’s difficult but, given the bizarre nature of the Skyscape contract, HMRC are going to have to find some way to reassure the public about the security with which our tax records, both personal and corporate, are being held. “The data will continue to be kept in accordance with existing legislation and HMRC security policies”, you say. I should hope so, too – the public want, need, deserve and pay for nothing less. But your statement begs the question. The public is bound to assume that the data to be stored at Skyscape’s cloud computing facilities is the tax records of every individual and legal person in the country. What other data does HMRC have? And the public is bound to assume that our data is intended to be stored at Hartham Park, Corsham, Wilts SN13 0RP because that’s the address of the registered office of Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd and it’s the address of the registered office of its “ally” ARK Continuity Ltd and it’s the address of ARK’s Spring Park data centre as noted for everyone to see on ARK’s website [4]. If that isn’t a breach of security, what is? Skyscape is a young start-up, it hasn’t yet submitted any accounts to Companies House, it has no track record, it has only one director and he owns all the shares in the company. If the Government Procurement Service (GPS) and HMRC believe that Skyscape is an appropriate company to trust with the care of our tax records, then there is something wrong with GPS’s and HMRC’s selection criteria. CloudStore make the point that the inclusion of a company and its services in its on-line store is not a warranty of appropriateness. It’s up to the customer – in this case HMRC – to determine appropriateness. Eleanor Stewart, the Assistant Director of G-Cloud, says [5]: “as with everything on the G-Cloud framework the customer can determine whether they are happy with any associated risk at the point of selection”. The references to GPS and to CloudStore in your letter can provide the public with no comfort. You mention the Skyscape Cloud Alliance [6] in your letter. Goodness knows what ARK Continuity is doing in the Alliance. HMRC doesn’t promote itself as being in an alliance with Mapeley. Why does Skyscape expect the public to find it commercially persuasive to include its landlord in the Alliance? QinetiQ, VMware, Cisco and EMC on the other hand are all industry leaders and if HMRC had entered into a contract with a joint venture company involving them then we wouldn’t be having this correspondence. But you haven’t. HMRC have entered into a contract with a one-man start-up. That was the case before you wrote your letter and it remains the case subsequently. The question therefore persists, how can HMRC make such an odd-looking decision? How can they risk the nation’s tax records on Skyscape? There’s no joint venture company there for a Tax Inspector to get his or her teeth into. Just an “alliance”. What is an alliance in this case? The contract is to provide cloud computing services. “Cloud computing” means losing control [7]. Whitehall promotes cloud computing on the basis that it turns IT into a utility [8]. That is not attractive, as this month’s news about gas and electricity prices will confirm. None of us has control over the price our suppliers charge for gas and electricity at home or control over their staff. If HMRC enter into a cloud computing contract with any supplier, big or small, they will have the same problem. How can HMRC risk the nation’s tax records on cloud computing? Salesmen sometimes unfortunately make over-enthusiastic claims about cloud computing being more resilient, secure and efficient than the alternatives. Lawyers don’t believe them. Lawyers don’t use cloud computing. Lawyers are paid to keep their clients’ data under control and confidential. So are public authorities like HMRC. As I write, I note that the latest cloud computing débâcle is unfolding. Amazon are the biggest cloud computing suppliers in the world and they’ve just had a 12-hour outage [9]. Our tax records are currently stored on hundreds of servers at “multiple” HMRC offices, you say. Good. That looks secure. Much more secure than storing them all in one place with a one-man start-up in some sort of nugatory alliance. And, since you mention it, the allegedly dainty carbon footprint of cloud computing will be no consolation if our records go up in smoke. According to HMRC’s press release [10] the Skyscape contract will save £1 million a year on running costs. We need to be guided here by the National Audit Office (NAO) report on HMRC’s on-line filing [11]. The NAO examined HMRC’s £8 billion 10-year ASPIRE contract with Capgemini and said: HMRC uses a range of indicators to measure the performance of its ICT services, which include online services, and it measures availability that relates specifically to online filing. HMRC has a high-level view of the overall costs of ICT provision through the ASPIRE contract. It has been taking steps to improve that information and achieve cost savings. It does not yet have a detailed breakdown of the costs of online filing services, so it cannot benchmark those costs to assess their value for money. HMRC is currently negotiating with the ASPIRE contractors to obtain a clearer breakdown of the costs of ICT services provided. (p.8) Also: [HMRC] should proceed with its plans to identify ICT costs specific to online filing services and ensure that current negotiations with the ASPIRE contractors provide sufficient breakdown of cost information for regular benchmarking of costs. (p.13) In the circumstances, with the suppliers not even prepared to tell HMRC what they are charging for, some scepticism is in order about claims to be able to identify £1 million of on-line filing costs in among the £8,000 million. CESG have rescued the nation before from other-worldly decisions taken by Whitehall. The Home Office wanted to use DWP’s National Insurance number database as the National Identity Register for the ID cards scheme. CESG pointed out that it was inappropriate and that was the end of that [12]. Let’s hope that they repeat the trick in their review of Skyscape. I look forward to a small piece appearing in the technical press somewhere out of the way regretting that for security reasons which cannot be given the HMRC contract with Skyscape has had to be revoked. Yours sincerely David Moss cc      Lin Homer, Chief Executive, HMRC           Chartered Institute of Taxation           Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales [1] HMRC and Skyscape 2, http://www.dmossesq.com/2012/10/hmrc-and-skyscape-2.html [2]Things happen when Lin Homer's in the loop. Fast., http://www.dmossesq.com/2012/10/things-happen-when-lin-homers-in-loop.html [3]HMRC and Skyscape, http://www.dmossesq.com/2012/10/hmrc-and-skyscape.html [4]Spring Park map, http://www.arkcontinuity.co.uk/contact-spring-park.html [5].gov.uk hosting bought through G-Cloud, http://gcloud.civilservice.gov.uk/2012/09/18/first-iaas-purchase-completed/#comment-2029 [6]The Skyscape Cloud Alliance, http://www.skyscapecloud.com/about/the-skyscape-cloud-alliance [7]Cloud computing and the Gadarene lemmings of Whitehall, http://www.dmossesq.com/2012/10/cloud-computing-and-fashion-conscious.html [8]Cloud computing turns IT into a utility, and that's a good thing?, http://www.dmossesq.com/2012/10/cloud-computing-turns-it-into-utility.html [9]Amazon outage started small, snowballed into 12-hour event, http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/102312-amazon-outage-263617.html [10]HMRC first for new IT contract, http://press.hmrc.gov.uk/Press-Releases/HMRC-first-for-new-IT-contract-680b1.aspx [11]HM Revenue & Customs – The expansion of online filing of tax returns, http://www.nao.org.uk//idoc.ashx?docId=cd237708-5c6b-472a-af13-f432f80d80cc&version=-1 [12]ID card scheme ditches DWP database, http://www.computerweekly.com/news/1280092192/ID-card-scheme-ditches-DWP-database

Updates:

24.5.12	Phil Pavitt says "we don't currently have ID authentication in UK government".
24.10.12	Letter emailed to Phil Pavitt and Lin Homer
25.10.12	Hard copy of letter posted to Phil Pavitt and Lin Homer, links sent to Eleanor Stewart, CIOT and ICAEW
28.10.12	Re last two paragraphs of letter, see Andy Smith affair.
4.11.12	US government argue that signing a cloud services agreement reduces your property rights in the data stored in the cloud, according to EFF.
13.11.12	Cloud computing, and GDS's fantasy strategy: "To which, all one can say is that there must be something wrong with the Cabinet Office, GPS and HMRC procurement criteria ...".
23.11.12	UK.gov to upgrade buying tool after mega cockup downs £1bn deal – Government Procurement Service computer system incapable of handling tenders for government procurement.
26.11.12	HMRC soon to be Pavittless – will Aviva store all our insurance details with Skyscape?

HMRC and Skyscape 2

The following open letter has been sent by email and by post to Phil Pavitt in his capacity as HMRC Director General Change, Security and Information with a copy to Lin Homer, Chief Executive, HMRC:

[Skyscape has subsequently changed its name to UKCloud: "London – August 1, 2016 – Skyscape Cloud Services Limited, the easy to adopt, easy to use and easy to leave assured cloud services company, has today renamed and relaunched as UKCloud Ltd (www.ukcloud.com), to reinforce the company’s exclusive focus on supporting the UK public sector in the digital transformation of services".]

Things happen when Lin Homer's in the loop. Fast.

An open letter was sent to HMRC by email and by post asking about the advisability of contracting with Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd.

An acknowledgement was received today by post promising a response within 15 working days.

And then the response was received, as shown below, dated today. Unprecedented.

With thanks to Phil Pavitt, responding on behalf of Ms Homer, and no further comment for the moment:

[Skyscape has subsequently changed its name to UKCloud: "London – August 1, 2016 – Skyscape Cloud Services Limited, the easy to adopt, easy to use and easy to leave assured cloud services company, has today renamed and relaunched as UKCloud Ltd (www.ukcloud.com), to reinforce the company’s exclusive focus on supporting the UK public sector in the digital transformation of services".]

HMRC and Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd Dear Mr Moss Thank you for your letter of 11 October 2012 expressing your concerns in respect of HMRC’s recently announced contract with Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd. I am replying on behalf of HMRC’s Chief Executive, Lin Homer. Skyscape were selected by HMRC and awarded a 12 month contract due to their innovative, inventive and value for money solution. In terms of the suitability of Skyscape hosting HMRC data I can confirm that HMRC procured the services of Skyscape via the HM Government “G-Cloud” Framework, also referred to  as the CloudStore. The G-Cloud was created by the Cabinet Office and the Government Procurement Services (GPS) via a formal competition process through the Official Journal of the European Union under the Open Procedure. G-Cloud was established to make government procurement easier and more transparent and was, in part, created as a means of encouraging small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to compete on a level playing  field with multi-national organisations. In order to deliver services through G-Cloud, all suppliers on the Framework, Skyscape included, were required to meet a set of mandatory criteria set out by GPS including their financial standing and Experian risk assessments. Additionally, HMRC carried out its own standard taxation and financial compliance checks  before awarding the contract and Skyscape passed the standard set by the G-Cloud Framework and HMRC. Skyscape’s services are provided through a number of key, or “Alliance”, Partners. These partners are industry leading organisations that provide services in the data centre or “cloud” arena such as EMC (storage  and security services), Cisco (networking) and Ark Continuity (UK based high security data centres). Ark Continuity therefore are one of a number of partners who supply Skyscape with their products and services which are key to Skyscape’s overall assured cloud computing services. However, data security remains integral to HMRC and a pre-requisite of any of our data being migrated to Skyscape is for their solution, including all the constituent parts, to be formally accredited by CESG (the Communications-Electronics Security Group) to Impact Level 3 (IL3). For more information please see the link below: http://gcloud.civilservice.gov.uk/2012/03/09/so-what-is-il3-a-short-guide-to-business-impact-levels/ This accreditation is expected imminently, at which point HMRC will be in a position to begin securely moving data over to Skyscape and decommissioning our old servers. Once the data has been moved it will remain there for the contract duration (12 months) during which time any subsequent data storage contract will be re-competed to ensure HMRC continues to take advantage of innovative, secure and low cost solutions, available within the marketplace, which allow HMRC to easily store, manage and transfer its data. It should also be noted that for security reasons HMRC does not discuss details of the data that it holds, or where it stores it, however we are able to confirm that by using Skyscape HMRC data will continue to be kept in accordance with existing legislation and HMRC security policies. Finally, I can confirm that the claims within HMRC’s press release of 26 September are fully justified. The data, which will be securely stored by Skyscape, currently resides on several hundred servers, across multiple HMRC office locations. This change will consolidate that data and place it into a small number of secure and highly resilient cloud data centres hence improving the security of the data, the efficiency of managing that data as well as improving HMRC’s carbon footprint. I trust that this answers your queries in full and I hope that you can now appreciate that HMRC’s decision to contract with Skyscape was not dangerous, ill-advised or irresponsible. Yours sincerely, Regards Phil Pavitt HMRC Director General Change, Security and Information

Things happen when Lin Homer's in the loop. Fast.

An open letter was sent to HMRC by email and by post asking about the advisability of contracting with Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd.

An acknowledgement was received today by post promising a response within 15 working days.

And then the response was received, as shown below, dated today. Unprecedented.

Cloud computing turns IT into a utility, and that's a good thing?

The interesting thing about cloud computing

is that we've redefined cloud computing
to include everything that we already do...

The computer industry is the only industry
that is more fashion-driven than women's fashion.

Maybe I'm an idiot,
but I have no idea what anyone is talking about.

What is it?

It's complete gibberish.

It's insane.

When is this idiocy going to stop?

Cloud computing is cheaper, better, faster, easier, ... because it turns IT into a utility. In fact it's a no-brainer. So says Whitehall's G-Cloud team, reading from the industry hymn-sheet.

DMossEsq doesn't think that emulating the utilities markets is obviously a very good idea. Neither does Richard Stallman. And as for Larry Ellison, all $41 billion-worth of him, he thinks cloud computing announcements are "fashion-driven" and "complete gibberish", see above. And below.

But never mind Messrs Stallman and Ellison and DMossEsq, take a look at the past week's utilities news and you decide, what do you think? Is this where you want public money spent? Your money?

Don't bother working on the answer too hard by the way because actually it doesn't matter what you think. HMRC have already contracted with Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd to put your tax data in the cloud and GDS – the Government Digital Service – have already contracted with the same company to put all your benefits data up there in the cloud, too.

A	The big guns:
	• 14 January 2011, OECD, Reducing Systemic Cybersecurity Risk: cloud computing creates security problems in the form of loss of confidentiality if authentication is not robust and loss of service if internet connectivity is unavailable or the supplier is in financial difficulties ...
	• 10 February 2011, ENISA, Security & Resilience in Governmental Clouds: [re cloud computing] its adoption should be limited to non-sensitive or non-critical applications and in the context of a defined strategy for cloud adoption which should include a clear exit strategy ...
	(ENISA is the EU's Network and Information Security Agency)
	After a while, the penny drops for you, doesn't it. But it hasn't for Whitehall.
B	Small arms fire:
	• 4 May 2012 Sage thrusts small biz tool into Microsoft Azure: At the end of last year Sage had converted just 1,000 of its customers from cloud sceptics to adopters, out of an installed base of 6.3 million ...
	• 9 May 2012 Cloud data fiasco forces bosses to break out the whiteboards: Workers relying on Atlassian's cloudy team-tracking software have reverted to whiteboards and spreadsheets after a service outage made key project data vanish ...
	• 10 May 2012 Root canal surgery officially more desirable than cloud migration: Some IT decision makers would prefer to undergo root canal surgery than deal with migrating their business to a private or public cloud ...
	• 15 May 2012 iCloud blows away 15 million users for 90 minutes: Apple’s iCloud service crashed for ninety minutes on Monday, US time, leaving 12% of users – about 15 million people - possibly “unable to access iCloud mail” ...
	After a while, you can't help noticing, can you. Not everyone is a fan.
C	from Whitehall's G-Cloud website:
	• 12 March 2012 The Times they are a changing: Cloud Computing offers utility services that are cheaper, better and faster to provision ...
	• 23 March 2012 A No Brainer: Cloud computing is: ICT services, or ICT enabled business services supplied on a utility basis ...
	• 4 April 2012 Baby Steps: You don’t need to make a big commitment up-front because cloud is based on a utility service model ...
	• 1 June 2012 G-Cloud ‘Simple’ Procurement Instructions: ... the aim of G-Cloud is to make it easier for the public sector to access and use utility-based ICT services and easier for suppliers to work with us ...
	• 26 July 2012 Guidance on Terms and Conditions: Public Cloud means Utility Computing that is available to individuals, public and private sector organisations. Public Cloud is often non-geographically specific and can be accessed wherever there is an Internet connection ... Private Cloud means a Utility Computing infrastructure exclusively for the use of one organisation or community ... See also • 10 May 2012 G-Cloud Information Assurance Requirements and Guidance See also • G-CLOUD SERVICES II FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT
	• 18 September 2012 .gov.uk hosting bought through G-Cloud: The purchase also shows that government is ready to embrace low cost utility cloud services ...
	After a while, you get the idea, don't you. Cloud computing is a good thing according to Whitehall because it turns IT into a utility, it has all the benefits enjoyed by the utilities.
D	from the Guardian newspaper website:
	12 October 2012 British Gas set to raise gas and electricity prices
	12 October 2012 British Gas raises green electricity bills
	15 October 2012 Scottish Power raises gas and electricity prices
	17 October 2012 Obama and Romney take up gas prices and energy policy during second debate
	18 October 2012 Energy tariff plans under pressure
	18 October 2012 Energy companies to be compelled to offer lowest tariff to customers
	18 October 2012 David Cameron's energy team unable to explain price pledge
	19 October 2012 Npower price hike highlights complexity of energy tariffs
	After a while, you get to wonder, don't you. Are these the benefits we want for IT?
E	from the Guardian newspaper website, 29 September 2008:
	Richard Stallman the prophet of open source ... Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and creator of the computer operating system GNU, said that cloud computing was simply a trap aimed at forcing more people to buy into locked, proprietary systems that would cost them more and more over time. "It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign," he told The Guardian. "Somebody is saying this is inevitable – and whenever you hear somebody saying that, it's very likely to be a set of businesses campaigning to make it true."
	[A cloud computing user says] We went ahead and moved our business to public cloud computing about 18 months ago. It has been a nightmare, there have been times when the company is down because our collaboration software, Basecamp, is unreachable. We also have an Amazon cloud solution. How secure is this, what if there is a breach? How do you even call Amazon, they don't even have a phone number for us? The level of transparency is not there.
	... tough issues remain. One is that organisations often cannot perform audits to verify the vendor's claims. Google, for example, does not allow it. "It does more to impede the security, letting everybody in to take a look at everything," [Eran Feigenbaum, director of security, Google Apps] says.
	Larry Ellison, Oracle "The interesting thing about cloud computing is that we've redefined cloud computing to include everything that we already do," [Mr Ellison] said. "The computer industry is the only industry that is more fashion-driven than women's fashion. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It's complete gibberish. It's insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?"
	No doubt someone will point out that Oracle now do offer cloud computing services. Does that imply that Mr Ellison no longer discerns gibberish, idiocy and insanity in cloud computing? Not necessarily. It may be simply that, having warned everyone about the idiocy, insanity and gibberish, he now feels that it is not in his shareholders' best interests to stand by and watch while Oracle's competitors pick all the low-hanging fruit.
	After a while, you give up, don't you. Like Whitehall. They've opened an on-line shop, the CloudStore, in which central and local government can buy cloud services (with no warranty*, incidentally). It's a leak, through which control over public sector IT escapes. Whitehall will soon enjoy all the control over their IT suppliers that you personally currently enjoy over your gas, electricity, telephone, water and sewerage suppliers.

----------

* Five questions were submitted to Whitehall's G-Cloud team about the advisability of including the products of Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd on the CloudStore. Skyscape is a small start-up with no trading history into whose care your tax data is being entrusted and your benefits data.

As she always does – and this is as good a point as any to thank her and to emphasise that it is appreciated – Eleanor Stewart, Assistant Director of G-Cloud, answered as fully as she could as follows.

It's up to the customer – whether HMRC, GDS, or any other public sector body – to decide if the supplier meets their requirements, the G-Cloud team give no warranty, inclusion on the CloudStore doesn't imply reliability.

The use of bold below doesn't match Ms Stewart's original reply:

To ensure the financial stability and repute of a company applying to be part of the Cloudstore the Government Procurement Service use a range a tests. The main one is the Experian Score for the company. This is an independent assessment of the financial risk of the company rated from 0-100 and recognised across all sectors. The normal benchmark set by HMG for a supplier is to have a score of 51 however as you have implied this penalises small or young companies and G-Cloud programme as set a requirement to have a score of 25 on the basis that we have a range of services, are broadening the marketplace and are not just for big companies with high scores. To gain a score of 25 you must be a stable company however, as with everything on the G-Cloud framework the customer can determine whether they are happy with any associated risk at the point of selection ... To purchase from G-Cloud GDS and HMRC have gone through a detailed selection process looking their requirements and the options available to them and have concluded that the Skyscape services will best met their needs and that of UK citizens.

Cloud computing turns IT into a utility, and that's a good thing?

The interesting thing about cloud computing

is that we've redefined cloud computing
to include everything that we already do...

The computer industry is the only industry
that is more fashion-driven than women's fashion.

Maybe I'm an idiot,
but I have no idea what anyone is talking about.

What is it?

It's complete gibberish.

It's insane.

When is this idiocy going to stop?

Cloud computing is cheaper, better, faster, easier, ... because it turns IT into a utility. In fact it's a no-brainer. So says Whitehall's G-Cloud team, reading from the industry hymn-sheet.

DMossEsq doesn't think that emulating the utilities markets is obviously a very good idea. Neither does Richard Stallman. And as for Larry Ellison, all $41 billion-worth of him, he thinks cloud computing announcements are "fashion-driven" and "complete gibberish", see above. And below.

But never mind Messrs Stallman and Ellison and DMossEsq, take a look at the past week's utilities news and you decide, what do you think? Is this where you want public money spent? Your money?

Don't bother working on the answer too hard by the way because actually it doesn't matter what you think. HMRC have already contracted with Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd to put your tax data in the cloud and GDS – the Government Digital Service – have already contracted with the same company to put all your benefits data up there in the cloud, too.

Cloud computing and the Gadarene lemmings of Whitehall

It happens sometimes. You sit down to write a post and find you've already written it. In this case three months ago, HMG's cloud computing strategy – there isn't one.

In brief, Chris Chant identified 23 problems with Government IT and claimed that the solution is cloud computing and agile software engineering methods. He never stated how these remedies would solve the 23 problems and neither has anyone else.

Another way of putting which is to say that there is no Whitehall IT strategy for cloud computing. They can't give any examples of how cloud computing will help. They have no reason for creating CloudStores and contracting with a one-man band to host GOV.UK and HMRC's local office records in the cloud. They're just doing it. Because everyone else is. Allegedly.

Allegedly. The qualification has to be added because DMossEsq asked a very senior partner of a major global firm of lawyers if his firm uses the cloud and, in the politest way, he tried not to look as though he was dealing with a lunatic.

It's a breach of confidence to hand over client documents to a third party, a third party who may be anywhere in the world. The message was that his firm prefers to keep control of its data. It prefers to stay in business. The two are linked.

If Whitehall stick all our records in the cloud, they lose control of them. They lose control of their IT costs (our IT costs), the computers, the location of the computers and the staff who operate them, and they lose control of the data stored and processed on them.

Can anyone remember why Whitehall want cloud computing? Why they don't want to use their own data centres? What the return is meant to be? Why they're taking the risk?

Why are they wasting their time and our money? Why are they so intent on losing control? Is government too difficult for them? Have they given up?

Is there any sense in which Whitehall's behaviour is in the public interest? Any sense in which it's businesslike, professional, responsible, logical or dignified?

No. None.

Whitehall are behaving like a herd of adolescent fashion-driven Gadarene lemmings.

Someone wants to say that Whitehall are wasting our money with impunity and that the state of public administration in the UK is disgraceful. Or has he already said that?

Cloud computing and the Gadarene lemmings of Whitehall

It happens sometimes. You sit down to write a post and find you've already written it. In this case three months ago, HMG's cloud computing strategy – there isn't one.

Five questions for the G-Cloud team, champions of cloud computing in the 21st century skyscape of UK government

30 September 2012, posted on the G-Cloud blog here and here. The "Eleanor" addressed here is Eleanor Stewart, the main spokesman for G-Cloud since Ian Watmore and Chris Chant left Whitehall:

[Skyscape has subsequently changed its name to UKCloud: "London – August 1, 2016 – Skyscape Cloud Services Limited, the easy to adopt, easy to use and easy to leave assured cloud services company, has today renamed and relaunched as UKCloud Ltd (www.ukcloud.com), to reinforce the company’s exclusive focus on supporting the UK public sector in the digital transformation of services".]

dmossesq says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.  September 30, 2012 at 7:21 am This business about Skyscape, the Cloudstore and GDS is fascinating, Eleanor, thank you. And I note that HMRC also have contracted for cloud services with Skyscape. Just a few questions. Skyscape is too young to have filed any accounts yet with Companies House, so we have no idea about its P&L and its balance sheet. On the other hand, we do know from Companies House that Skyscape’s registered office is at Hartham Park, Hartham, Corsham, Wilts SN13 0RP. And that it has a paid up share capital of just £1,000. The company turns out to have just one director, a Mr JR Sanders. And just one shareholder, the same Mr JR Sanders. Q1: just how small does a company have to be to fall below the exacting standards for inclusion in the Cloudstore? Q2: GDS and HMRC seem to have contracted not so much with one company as with one man. Do you think that’s wise? Skyscape claim to be in some sort of an “alliance” with five other companies including ARK Continuity. ARK Continuity’s registered address is Hartham Park, Hartham, Corsham, Wilts SN13 0RP. One of its directors, a Mr JP Thomas, who owns £3.20 of ARK’s £16 issued share capital, used to own one share in Skyscape, but transferred it to Mr JR Sanders on 19 April 2012. Q3: just what does this “alliance” amount to? ARK is basically a property company and on its website it proudly displays its Spring Park data centre at Hartham Park, Hartham, Corsham, Wilts SN13 0RP. They provide a map of how to get there and helpfully add that the MoD have secure facilities nearby. Q4: GOV.UK and HMRC’s Skyscape contracts cover important national assets and if the blabbermouths at ARK have given away their current location could you arrange for them to be moved? Obviously you’re busy and this might be too much of an imposition in the case of a traditional data centre. But I understand that with cloud computing you just press a button and the application disappears from one virtual server and effortlessly spins up immediately on another one. Q5: Is that correct?

Substantially the same comment has been posted to the Government Digital Service (GDS) blog here and here.

Comments will only appear on the G-Cloud and GDS blogs after moderation by them and only if they want the comments to appear.

Five questions for the G-Cloud team, champions of cloud computing in the 21st century skyscape of UK government

30 September 2012, posted on the G-Cloud blog here and here. The "Eleanor" addressed here is Eleanor Stewart, the main spokesman for G-Cloud since Ian Watmore and Chris Chant left Whitehall:

[Skyscape has subsequently changed its name to UKCloud: "London – August 1, 2016 – Skyscape Cloud Services Limited, the easy to adopt, easy to use and easy to leave assured cloud services company, has today renamed and relaunched as UKCloud Ltd (www.ukcloud.com), to reinforce the company’s exclusive focus on supporting the UK public sector in the digital transformation of services".]

dmossesq says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.  September 30, 2012 at 7:21 am This business about Skyscape, the Cloudstore and GDS is fascinating, Eleanor, thank you. And I note that HMRC also have contracted for cloud services with Skyscape. Just a few questions. Skyscape is too young to have filed any accounts yet with Companies House, so we have no idea about its P&L and its balance sheet. On the other hand, we do know from Companies House that Skyscape’s registered office is at Hartham Park, Hartham, Corsham, Wilts SN13 0RP. And that it has a paid up share capital of just £1,000. The company turns out to have just one director, a Mr JR Sanders. And just one shareholder, the same Mr JR Sanders. Q1: just how small does a company have to be to fall below the exacting standards for inclusion in the Cloudstore? Q2: GDS and HMRC seem to have contracted not so much with one company as with one man. Do you think that’s wise? Skyscape claim to be in some sort of an “alliance” with five other companies including ARK Continuity. ARK Continuity’s registered address is Hartham Park, Hartham, Corsham, Wilts SN13 0RP. One of its directors, a Mr JP Thomas, who owns £3.20 of ARK’s £16 issued share capital, used to own one share in Skyscape, but transferred it to Mr JR Sanders on 19 April 2012. Q3: just what does this “alliance” amount to? ARK is basically a property company and on its website it proudly displays its Spring Park data centre at Hartham Park, Hartham, Corsham, Wilts SN13 0RP. They provide a map of how to get there and helpfully add that the MoD have secure facilities nearby. Q4: GOV.UK and HMRC’s Skyscape contracts cover important national assets and if the blabbermouths at ARK have given away their current location could you arrange for them to be moved? Obviously you’re busy and this might be too much of an imposition in the case of a traditional data centre. But I understand that with cloud computing you just press a button and the application disappears from one virtual server and effortlessly spins up immediately on another one. Q5: Is that correct?

Substantially the same comment has been posted to the Government Digital Service (GDS) blog here and here.

Comments will only appear on the G-Cloud and GDS blogs after moderation by them and only if they want the comments to appear.

Whitehall, an apology – they haven't gone mad, they're just lying

A P O L O G Y

In common with precisely no other media outlets DMossEsq yesterday accused Whitehall of having gone mad.

Apologies.

Readers will be relieved to know that far from going bonkers, Whitehall are simply guilty of economy with the actualité, embroidering, gilding the lily, trying it on, stretching things a bit, terminological inexactitude and lying.

So nothing out of the ordinary, nothing to worry about after all.

[Skyscape has subsequently changed its name to UKCloud: "London – August 1, 2016 – Skyscape Cloud Services Limited, the easy to adopt, easy to use and easy to leave assured cloud services company, has today renamed and relaunched as UKCloud Ltd (www.ukcloud.com), to reinforce the company’s exclusive focus on supporting the UK public sector in the digital transformation of services".]

Fact: GDS, the Government Digital Service, have retained Skyscape to host GOV.UK, the central government website. That's what it says on their blog.

Fact: Skyscape is a £100 £1,000 company. That's what it says on the Companies House website.

Fact: The G-Cloud team claimed that this purchase of website hosting services from Skyscape is an example of government using small and medium-sized enterprises. That's what it says on the G-Cloud blog:

The purchase also shows that government is ready to embrace low cost utility cloud services and is  buying from SME’s

In the ordinary course of events that would be unbusinesslike and irresponsible. And mad.

What the entire journalistic team at DMossEsq missed, the editors and the in-house libel lawyer as well, is that Skyscape is no ordinary £100 £1,000 company.

Take a look at their website. Skyscape describe themselves as an alliance, the "Skyscape Cloud Alliance", what we might normally call a "joint venture", between five companies as shown in the table below:

Skyscape Cloud Alliance
(£1 = $1.60)	Revenue ($)	Revenue (£)	Staff	Data source
QinetiQ		1,469,600,000	10,180	PDF
VMware	3,767,096,000	2,354,435,000	11,000	PDF
Cisco	43,218,000,000	27,011,250,000	25,898	PDF
EMC²	20,007,600,000	12,504,750,000	53,600	PDF
ARK Continuity		2,015,696	10	Companies House, annual report and accounts to 30 April 2011
		43,342,050,696	100,688

What the G-Cloud team would have us believe is that this organisation holding itself out as being backed by over 100,000 staff and £43 billion of turnover is an SME.

If Whitehall believe that, they're fooling themselves. That's up to them, but they can hardly expect us the public to believe it.