A broker has criticised his software house Misys Financial Systems (MFS) for maintaining high prices for its computers despite the price dropping from the manufacturer.
The broker, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Insurance Times: "In the software industry generally, prices have come down by up to 80%, but the software houses seem to be ignoring this."
Misys, which has a deal with manufacturer Viglen to supply brokers with computers, dismisses the claim. In a letter to Insurance Times this week, the broker said Misys will charge £728, excluding VAT and delivery, for a 466 MHz processor, including a 32 meg fast ram and a 15 inch VGA Monitor.
But he claims that if he had gone direct to the manufacturer to buy the computer, he could have got a higher spec computer – 500MHz with Microsoft Works 2000 and a year's maintenance included – for £499.
However, a spokesman for Misys said the company supplies PCs at a reasonable and competitive price.
He said: "We do not try to be the cheapest on the market nor to stipulate that our customers must buy from us.
"However, a great many do and for very good reasons, such as having all necessary software pre-loaded, having a single source for support and installation services."
The broker has now bought two Pentium III 600 MHz computers with 64 Meg ram and 17 inch screens from one of his own customers.
But he was upset to discover that he would still have to pay Misys £295 per computer to have his green screen information converted to a Windows look-and-feel system.
He also had to pay £85 for an engineer and an annual licence fee of £60 for the Winlink software that converts systems from green screens to Windows.