Public Call for Tender Requested: Swiss Group Challenges Microsoft Contracts

[ Thanks to Britta Wuelfing for this
link. ]

“The Swiss BBL office had already acted on Microsoft’s
bid in February but did not make it public until the May 1, 2009
issue of the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce. The deal is that
the existing Microsoft license, maintenance and support agreements
for desktops and servers would be extended for three years, at an
annual cost of 14 million Swiss francs. Now Swiss organizations
have submitted a complaint against the contract with the Swiss
Federal Courts.

“According to the BBL office, a public call for tender was not
required in this case, as BBL spokesperson Katja Lunau revealed to
the Neue Zürcher Zeitung on May 5. She claimed that the
“uniqueness of the contract” was based on the lack of a viable
competitive product, that competitive bidding was not an option and
that the license agreements do not need to be made public.”

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