Google suit over Microsoft contract hurts U.S. Gov operations

Google is stepping up its game in office software with a lawsuit against the Interior Dept. for picking Microsoft Office for a $59 million upgrade. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704141104575588641430182832.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_business
I'm not sure of the merits of Google's case. But I know the resulting delay won't be good for governement operations.
The endless litigation over government IT contracts is a big reason the government IT systems are so antiquated. Every effort to upgrade IT in government agencies requires months or years of writing RFPs followed by public comments, followed by amendments, followed by bids, followed by selections, followed by litigation. This is further complicated by quadrennial turnover of agency heads and deputy under-secretaries requiring the new leader to be updated on everything that went into the contract RFP and its aftermath.
The goal, of course, is fair competition for government procurement that will result in the best systems and the lowest price. The alternative would probably be companies lobbying congressmen with campaign contributions which isn't good either. But the game for bidders now is to get into the RFP process and put in criteria that make your company's product the only one that can fulfill the RFP. That's what Google says happened at Interior.
There's also a game of pulling together many competitors into consortia with different ones taking the lead on different contracts.
Maybe the Google lawsuit will result in a better system in 2012 or 2013. But Interior will lose a couple of years of enhanced productivity, and Microsoft may end up winning anyway.