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From: Dave Page <dpage@pgadmin.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2023 09:28:20 +0100
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 <CA+OCxoys3ep=PLx_WhS6pwheMhAHc4RJFcCwV8UgQpASLfzkXw@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Birmingham City Council chose Oracle, went broke because of it ;)
To: Magnus Hagander <magnus@hagander.net>
Cc: Justin Clift <justin@postgresql.org>,
	PostgreSQL Advocacy <pgsql-advocacy@lists.postgresql.org>
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On Thu, 7 Sept 2023 at 09:23, Magnus Hagander <magnus@hagander.net> wrote:

> On Thu, Sep 7, 2023 at 1:49=E2=80=AFAM Justin Clift <justin@postgresql.or=
g> wrote:
> >
> > Heh Heh Heh.  This is pretty funny:
> >
> >
> https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/05/birmingham_city_council_oracle/
> >
> >    "Birmingham City Council, the largest local authority in Europe, has
> >     declared itself in financial distress after troubled Oracle project
> >     costs ballooned from =C2=A320 million to around =C2=A3100 million (=
$125.5
> > million)."
> >
> > Wonder if they'll make the smart choice next time around, and choose PG
> > + a decent vendor instead? :)
>
> In fairness, that project is about Oracle Fusion, not the database. So
> PG doesn't have a competing product. There are opensource ERP products
> out there, but I'm not sure they're advanced enough to handle
> something like that...
>

Indeed. It also only amounts for a fraction of the council's liabilities.
The vast majority is from an equal pay judgement against them, which iirc,
totals a couple of billion pounds (of which they've paid off over half in
the last decade I believe).

So, yeah, the Oracle thing is a massive screw up. But it's not what caused
the majority of their problems.

--=20
Dave Page
pgAdmin: https://www.pgadmin.org
PostgreSQL: https://www.postgresql.org
EDB: https://www.enterprisedb.com

PGDay UK 2023, September 12, London: https://2023.pgday.uk

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><br></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">=
<div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Thu, 7 Sept 2023 at 09:23, Magnus =
Hagander &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:magnus@hagander.net">magnus@hagander.net</a>=
&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px =
0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-col=
or:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">On Thu, Sep 7, 2023 at 1:49=E2=80=AFA=
M Justin Clift &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:justin@postgresql.org" target=3D"_blan=
k">justin@postgresql.org</a>&gt; wrote:<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Heh Heh Heh.=C2=A0 This is pretty funny:<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;=C2=A0 =C2=A0 <a href=3D"https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/05/birming=
ham_city_council_oracle/" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://www.=
theregister.com/2023/09/05/birmingham_city_council_oracle/</a><br>
&gt;<br>
&gt;=C2=A0 =C2=A0 &quot;Birmingham City Council, the largest local authorit=
y in Europe, has<br>
&gt;=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0declared itself in financial distress after trouble=
d Oracle project<br>
&gt;=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0costs ballooned from =C2=A320 million to around =C2=
=A3100 million ($125.5<br>
&gt; million).&quot;<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Wonder if they&#39;ll make the smart choice next time around, and choo=
se PG<br>
&gt; + a decent vendor instead? :)<br>
<br>
In fairness, that project is about Oracle Fusion, not the database. So<br>
PG doesn&#39;t have a competing product. There are opensource ERP products<=
br>
out there, but I&#39;m not sure they&#39;re advanced enough to handle<br>
something like that...<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Indeed. It also =
only amounts for a fraction of the council&#39;s liabilities. The vast majo=
rity is from an equal pay judgement against them, which iirc, totals a coup=
le of billion pounds (of which they&#39;ve paid off over half in the last d=
ecade I believe).</div><div><br></div><div>So, yeah, the Oracle thing is a =
massive screw up. But it&#39;s not what caused the majority of their proble=
ms.</div><div>=C2=A0</div></div><span class=3D"gmail_signature_prefix">-- <=
/span><br><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_signature"><div dir=3D"ltr">Dave =
Page<div>pgAdmin: <a href=3D"https://www.pgadmin.org" target=3D"_blank">htt=
ps://www.pgadmin.org</a></div><div>PostgreSQL: <a href=3D"https://www.postg=
resql.org" target=3D"_blank">https://www.postgresql.org</a><br><div>EDB:=C2=
=A0<a href=3D"https://www.enterprisedb.com" target=3D"_blank">https://www.e=
nterprisedb.com</a></div><div><br>PGDay UK 2023, September 12, London: <a h=
ref=3D"https://2023.pgday.uk" target=3D"_blank">https://2023.pgday.uk</a><b=
r><br><br></div></div></div></div></div>

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