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ATO briefs desktop suppliers |
ATO briefs desktop suppliers | 9.04.2008 | |
THE Australian Tax Office has briefed potential suppliers on what it wants from its upcoming desktop computing services contract, currently worth around $40 million a year .At today`s briefing in Canberra, the ATO`s Program Director, ICT Sourcing Program, Narelle Dotta outlined the ICT sourcing framework to 65 attending vendors.
The end-user computing services contract is worth $39 million per annum, excluding GST, but this is expected to grow to around $60 million as the desktop, mobile and printer fleet is expected to be replaced in the next couple of years.
The current ATO desktop and end-user environment consists of 28,000 desktops and 4700 laptops, 1776 laser printers, and 370 servers.
This is the second module of the ATO`s movement to break up its $2 billion single-sourcing arrangement with EDS Australia.
Earlier this week, finance minister Lindsay Tanner attacked the decentralised manner in which government departments have been procuring IT systems and services, and that there was hundreds of millions of dollars in savings by improving these.
He specifically referred to the government as a whole mobilising its buying power and Ms Dotta said the ATO had been involved in discussions about adopting this approach.
"We`ve advised the vendors and as things emerge in line with Government policy in this space, we will vary our process and accommodate them," Ms Dotta said.
The deal will also see the ATO`s workforce become more mobile, but this is expected to be more through notebooks as opposed to devices such as BlackBerrys or Apple`s iPhone.
"At this point in time we`re looking more at ability to run our business applications."
The move to a more mobile workforce would require the department to open up its tightly locked down desktop environment without compromising security.
"We`re looking to simplify start up mobile devices and provide more flexibility with how we use the devices, but we fundamentally need to retain a secure environment," she said.
One part that has been omitted from the contract is the ATO`s Microsoft enterprise software licence agreement, which is worth around $9 million a year.
Ms Dotta said that this was because the ATO considers the agreement to be an asset .
Expression of interests open on April 28 for around a month, and from this process Ms Dotta expects to shortlist three to six providers to discuss the request for tender at a workshop, which will be held in early August and September. |
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