[lwat]

I'm so glad I've never had a client like that here in Australia. Everyone seems to be OK with the idea of running multiple browsers. We do have clients that use IE6 but we've always managed to convince them to install Chrome or Firefox on their desktops so they can use our software. Some users end up using multiple browsers but that's ok.

I guess we're fortunate in the sense that our software is important enough and expensive enough for top management to make IT allow a new browser just for us.

At the UK NHS, who exactly is the CIO, who exactly is mandating IE6 and only IE6? Can't that person be reasoned with? Overridden for the good of the NSH? Fired even? Just saying 'oh they're only allowed IE6' is giving up too early.

[idiopathic]

Some historical background, which includes plenty of personal bias:

Governments, for all their posturing, love dealing with oligopolies, or even better, monopolies. They feel safer in making purchases from them. So around 2002, the UK government decided IT was so important, it was going to be done centrally for the whole NHS. They gave the job to Richard Granger, who then proceeded to divide England into five regions, each of which would have one vendor responsible for all software in the NHS for that region.

As part of that deal, they licensed MS Windows and Office. At that point, it became more expensive to use open source software than Microsoft's software. Then they standardised on IE6, and many vendors began using ActiveX.

When I ask departments to upgrade, they say they are going to do so, but first they need every single vendor to have signed off that their software works in the new browser. This will take a really long time.

Some will install a new browser for us, but this will actually result in a worse outcome for the clinicians because they have to use IE6 for most of their existing browsing, and then the other browser for us. They do not understand the point or the difference, and new browsers mean a different user interface, and they want to get on with treating patients rather than choosing between browsers.

The epilogue is that the UK government's national program wasted 12 billion pounds (about 20 billion US, ie the same amount the US government is also identically wasting to subsidise electronic health record purchases). And Richard Granger left the UK in disgrace.

He is now a consultant in... Australia :)

[nitrogen]

Would they be willing to use Chrome Frame? It seems like the ideal way to target IE6-only customers without "installing" another browser. That way they can use one browser for all their intranet apps.

[politician]

Hah, after that I expected that he'd be working for Microsoft directly. The way you tell it, he sounds like their best sales guy.

[davekinkead]

Except certain Australian Federal departments with 70,000+ staff who are stuck on IE6 because their IT boffins only want to use 'secure' web browsers and IT policy doesn't give them any choice in the tools they use.

[prof_hobart]

Can't speak for the internals of that organisation, but the main reason I've come across for corporates still being on IE6 is the very real cost of migrating.

Many legacy web applications were built to work on IE6, and changing to a more modern browser can subtly, or completely in some cases, break these critical apps. It may be a pain for users when their favourite social media site looks rubbish or doesn't even run in IE6, but it's nothing compared to the finance department not being able to run their end of year reports because one screen in their GL system doesn't render properly in Firefox.

And it costs money firstly to test every single function of every single app that your business uses, and secondly to fix those places where it breaks (especially when it's an external vendor's application). That time and money can often be better spent doing one of the thousand other things that are making demands on the IT budget. Most companies are slowly making this transition, but unfortunately it's not just a case of saying "This browser it better/more secure than that one. Let's upgrade".

[lwat]

No see my point is that there is ALWAYS someone above the 'IT boffins' that can force changes in policy like that. You don't fight with the 'IT boffins', you go right to the top. If the CIO or CEO or board of directors decide to use your software, they'll change whatever internal policies they need to make it happen.