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The New York Police Department's Deputy Commissioner of IT has defended the department's purchase of $160 million worth of obsolete Windows phones after a New York Post article criticized the "boondoggle". The NYPD plans to switch to iPhones:
On Monday, Jessica Tisch, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of information technology, wrote a scathing defense of the NYPD's choice of Windows phone.
The two-year project wrapped up in October and cost $160 million. It put Windows phones into the hands of all 36,000 officers.
The NY Post's Tina Moore originally reported on the change with the headline: NYPD needs to replace 36K useless smartphones. In the article Moore points out:
"Just months after the last phone was handed out, officials plan to begin replacing them all with brand-new iPhones by the end of the year, sources said."
This clearly didn't sit well with Tisch. She penned a retort that extolled the virtues of the Windows smartphone program, while also confirming that the NYPD has given up on Windows in favor of iPhones.
The smartphones purchased were the Lumia 830 and Lumia 640 XL.
Blog post defending the use of Windows phones. Also at New York Magazine, The Register, and Mac Rumors.
Older article about the "crime-fighting phone".
(Score: 5, Interesting) by NewNic on Wednesday August 30 2017, @05:25PM (7 children)
Can someone more familiar with Windows Phone explain to me what security features were present on these devices that were not on Apple or Android 3 years ago?
Or was the real issue that Tisch and her colleagues made some Windows-specific choices years ago that locked them into a Windows ecosystem, reducing their ability to negotiate effectively?
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Nerdfest on Wednesday August 30 2017, @05:48PM (3 children)
Wow, problems interfacing systems ... so they move to ... Apple? What a win for openness and integration. In my personal opinion it should be illegal for a public organization to choose suppliers that eschews open standards and open connectors. Just the fact that with Apple there is only one hardware provider as opposed to multiples seems like a *very* questionable decision. So much for custom hardware (better shielded, sturdier, etc).
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Sourcery42 on Wednesday August 30 2017, @07:08PM (2 children)
I don't disagree with anything you said about Apple. However, it does sound like the tipping point for migrating was MS no longer supporting Windows phone 8 or upgrading these devices to Windows phone 10. I suppose keeping LEOs' devices up do date on security patches and whatnot is important. Apple does have a good track record of updating its old phones for 5 years or so. With Android on the other hand, you're lucky if you get 2 years and 2 major version updates. That's flagship level support; budget devices might not even get that consideration. I could see that aspect of the mobile ecosystem influencing this decision.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:36PM
With Android on the other hand, you're lucky if you get [updates for] 2 years and 2 major version updates
Sounds like you get your phones via a carrier.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:39PM
When you're buying 160 million dollars worth of phones in one go, you can make arrangements for better long term support. That's especially true when the OS is open. At that volume, in house support becomes a viable economic option.
While iPhone makes a lot more sense than Windows phones, one might think the police would want a more rugged phone.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RamiK on Wednesday August 30 2017, @06:39PM (2 children)
Just guessing here, but Mobile Device Management was lacking and defective up until around 2014: https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/26/apple-launches-big-improvements-for-ios-management-tools-for-enterprise-and-education/ [techcrunch.com]
Similarly, Google only got into the whole Enterprise thing around 2014: https://techcrunch.com/2014/06/25/google-launches-drive-for-work-with-unlimited-storage-for-10month/ [techcrunch.com]
So, if I had to guess, the admins told them they can't secure devices that they aren't able to rollout, lockdown and manage remotely. Which should have been pretty decent excuse would the Windows Mobile phones actually worked as advertised.
compiling...
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Wednesday August 30 2017, @06:49PM (1 child)
2014 was 3 years ago, when the decision that Android and Apple were apparently (in the eyes of the NYPD) defective was made.
Let's face it, this is someone, all too common in IT, who can't see past Windows and is justifying the old decisions. To rise to this position, she has to be politically savvy.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:33PM
> 2014 was 3 years ago, when the decision that Android and Apple were apparently (in the eyes of the NYPD) defective was made.
If the decision was made then, the procurement process began months (at least) before. If Apple and Android's offerings were "coming soon" at the time, whilst Windows' were available now, then that may have made the decision. Apple and Android (or vendors/suppliers) may even have qualified out (because of this) in the early stages of procurement.
What is awfully common in IT is that technology changes a lot faster than public sector procurement and rollout processes, leading to frequently going live with a system that is already obsolete or even unsupported. NYPD aren't alone in that, heck I know of at least one corporate with 100s of users still on Windows Phone - for the same reasons (MDM and security). They don't even know what to move to - Win Phone is dead, but Apple and Android don't do what they want.