IT professionals and ITWeb readers believe the R6.5 million budget for the Durban 2010 Web site project is far too high.
And, despite numerous requests from ITWeb to detail how the money was spent and on what technology, the municipality is keeping mum.
Adapt-IT was awarded the contract by the city to design the Web site, but has also refused to comment on the matter.
Following an ITWeb report and the outcry from the IT community, requests were sent to the municipality asking for detailed information on the budget. After a two-week wait and repeated requests, the city has still not provided these details.
In the only statement it has made on the issue since the ITWeb article, the municipality maintains the R6.5 million for the Web site is justified. It says the amount includes development costs, hosting costs, capital equipment and the materials needed for the various phases.
“The budget indicated is not only for Web development costs, but includes costs such as shooting videos and translation. The Web servers have been specified to accommodate the development of the information portal post-2010, which will prevent further costs being incurred.”
Too high
However, IT professionals beg to differ.
Robert Bravery, MD of Integral Web Solutions, says: “This cost is way too expensive. Web design host and portal management can be charged by at least 10%. Hardware is another thing. Even for Web cams and the like, we're looking at about 20% of initial costs.”
Dawie Hanekom, MD of Sulaco New Media, says it would be difficult to justify the cost.
“I think about the elements mentioned, which are normally expensive/costly, but it's still difficult to justify the price tag of R6.5 million - especially if you don't see a complete breakdown of what they actually paid for and how they were billed. I do, however, think they were over-quoted.”
Many ITWeb readers also questioned the high price tag and why so much of taxpayers' money was spent on the site.
One reader said: “Even a full-scale 'Web initiative' with development, deployment, hardware, bandwidth and software costs when properly managed would not even come close to R1 million, never mind six times that.”
Another reader's comment read: “I could have done better than this for R250 000, using Joomla, with more features, and a slicker look and feel.”
“With the BEST technology, skills and hardware/software, R6.5 million is still way too much!” said another reader.
To see all the reader comments on the original story, click here.
No info
The municipality's statement, issued after ITWeb's initial story was published, and covering general information, rather than a cost breakdown, said the total cost of the electronic information approach for 2010 will be around R6.5 million. The current projected cost for all the work done until 31 December 2010 is around R5.5 million, but the city believes it will contain that cost to under R5 million. The current actual cost of phase one, although it is not complete, is just under R1 million.
The city added the 2010 Web site will form part of other legacy projects. It will evolve into an information portal, which will incorporate the current www.durban.gov.za Web site and the use of functionalities such as Silverlight, Photosynth and Sharepoint, and content from the 2010 Web site.
Hanekom notes that the current Web site, as is, will not be worth its million-rand budget, but that without any detailed information, it is difficult to tell whether the cost is justified.
“If they're hosting the site locally - bandwidth is expensive and when you do live video streaming you will have to pay. Hosting overseas will cut costs though. Translation into various languages can become a costly factor. Professional photography can also be costly, especially when it comes to sky or helicopter shots. They talk of hardware and equipment - this can also be costly, but what type of hardware or equipment did they order and [in what] quantities?”
Related story:
Durban 2010 site costs R6.5m
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