I think, given that MS Azure costs at least 10 x more than many of its smaller (but far more worthy) competitors, the NZ public service (i.e. we taxpayers) are being ripped off. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201838240/should-nz-health-data-be-in-the-cloud I need to have a word with Ben Creet about praising "cloud providers'" security... some are far worse than others, and Microsoft's no where near the head of the pack.
If we turfed Microsoft, our IT costs would plummet and satisfaction of users would (after a short dip of dealing with stuff that's 'different') rise markedly. Of that I have little doubt. Sadly, we don't have any digital tech leaders (with sufficient clout to influence policy) in the public services, which is why we can't have nice things (or competent, cost-effective digital services).
People like Mr Rijpma should be listened to. Not. At. All. They're marketers, not policy makers, not technologists, not credible. Gov't needs to stop listening to these people who are 100% committed to 'increasing shareholder value' and not. at. all. committed to the people of NZ.