What’s up, IBM?

by YankeeJim | March 27, 2011 at 06:27 am

91 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Techdirty reports that IBM is banned from contracting, at least at the EPA. The story indicates that the ban may spread. That is possible, but there is nothing to go on here.

Federal government procurement and contracting is a sleazy business. I like IBM because the firm at least has commercial customers and may be commercially viable independent from government contraction. That is a criterion that I advocate for all government contractors. If you can’t operate as a legitimate business in the private sector, why should you be doing business with me, “I the People”?

“IBM Banned From Federal Contracts; No One Saying Why

from the that-can't-be-a-good-thing dept

It's not at all clear what's going on yet, but apparently the EPA has banned IBM from getting any contracts for some unnamed (serious) infraction. Apparently when one gov't agency does such a thing, others follow suit, meaning that effectively IBM may be barred from getting any new government contracts for an extended period of time (potentially up to one year). This is rather unusual, and no one seems to be saying why this ban was put in place, but needless to say, it suggests some sort of pretty serious infraction on the part of IBM.”