A new report from market research firm Romtec reveals that over three quarters of the departmental minicomputers expected to be bought this year by UK local authorities will run Unix. The data, obtained from detailed interviews with 157 local authority data processing managers, indicated that most of the machines would be used to run new applications rather than to replace proprietary systems – although 15% said they would be converting from proprietary to Unix technology. And most of the machines will come from ICL, traditionally a strong player in this market. The report finds that 60% of planned departmental system purchases will go to ICL, with Bull and Unisys on 12% each, and other vendors sharing the remaining 16%. ICL is also getting its share of new personal computer purchases, coming close behind IBM’s 31% with 27% of the market. Last year, the 500-plus local authorities spent UKP727m on their computing. This year, applications to comply with new legislation such as Community Charge and Compulsory Competitive Tendering will account for some UKP70m of the software bill.
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