The LA Weekly notes that the city's contract with Google to provide email services will cost $1.5 million more than the old system, and questions the wisdom of the extra cost during a massive budget deficit. A valid point, to be sure - but it's worth considering what you get for that extra cabbage. From DailyFinance.com:

Randi Levin, general manager of the city's Information Technology Agency .... said that unlike the city's current GroupWise system, the Google platform won't require 16 city employees running 60 servers. She also criticized GroupWise for being "slow, limited in memory and prone to crashing."

It's difficult to measure the cost of wasted time and effort by city employees who have to struggle with an inefficient system, but it is undoubtedly considerable. You want people to do a good job, you've got to give them the right tools.

Previously on FBLA:
Google Wins Email Contract With City Of Los Angeles