Romanian state is negotiating with Microsoft for Windows XP technical support

Newsroom 17/07/2014 | 18:16

Negotiations between Romanian authorities and Microsoft for the continuation of the technical support for Windows XP are currently on the “finish line,” and it remains to be seen whether the licenses will be leased or bought, announced Razvan Cotovelea, the minister for Information Society, according to Mediafax.

“The Romanian government decided that it will definitely negotiate and will receive a fair price for as long as it needs the service package. Microsoft cannot offer a very wide range of services on XP. We came up with a negotiation and we are waiting for the final payment offers and the mechanisms via which we will make these payments. We are not excluding any of the two options, lease or purchase, as far as the Microsoft licenses are concerned,” said Cotovelea.

The minister also said the contract will be “a highly transparent one” and Romania “will pay to the last cent, up to the last euro, only for what it needs.”

Cotovelea said Romania has a serious problem regarding the Windows XP licenses because between 2009-2010, the financial crisis prevented the state from buying new computers.

“A new computer used another OS so currently, after four years, we have a very outdated IT infrastructure, with licenses that are no longer in production and for which the producer no longer commits to finance technical support,” said the minister.
Otilia Haraga