ATO briefs on massive contract

THE Australian Taxation Office will conduct its first briefing for potential tech suppliers to its $1 billion outsourcing plan.

The briefing covers the first stage of a program that will eventually replace the nine-year outsourcing contract the ATO has held with US services giant Electronic Data Systems (EDS).

The ATO announced through the Commonwealth tenders website it would meet with interested suppliers to the Managed Network Services component of its plans on Monday December 17.

The Tax Office said its sourcing plans called for market testing of various services between mid-next year and mid-2010. It plans to issue a series of Expressions of Interest (EoIs) and Requests for Tender (RfTs) during that period.

The first EOI, for Managed Network Services, will be released in late January. It will cover areas ranging from voice, mobile and data carriage services, desktop handsets and PBX systems, network switches and security gateways.

Following the EOI, the Tax Office is expected to select a shortlist of suppliers to participate in further briefings and workshops before being invited to respond to a formal RfT.

For more IT Services news, click here.

EDS buys public sector specialist

OUTSOURCING giant Electronic Data Systems is to acquire public sector software and service specialist Saber Corporation for US$420 million (A$468 million) in cash.

Under the terms of the agreement, Saber chief executive Nitin Khannan and chief operating officer will retain a 7 per cent stake in the firm while running it as an EDS unit.

Founded in 1997, Saber is one of the fastest-growing providers of software to state and local governments.

“This transaction creates a growth opportunity for EDS as Saber brings complementary capabilities to EDS’ already strong presence in the U.S. state and local government market, and is consistent with our strategy to move aggressively into higher-value application services,” said EDS executive vice-president Corporate Strategy and Business Development Joe Eazor.

“The combination of Saber’s industry-leading applications portfolio, geographic breadth and deep understanding of government technology needs, together with EDS’ global resources and demonstrated strengths in systems integration, will provide unmatched, end-to-end solutions for clients,” Mr Eazor said.

The US state and local government market for IT services is a highly attractive growth segment valued at approximately US$50 billion by research firm INPUT and is estimated to have a compound annual growth rate of nearly 8 percent, driven by modernization of legacy systems and strong demand in new market segments for software and service solutions.

Last year, approximately US$3.3 billion, or 16 percent, of EDS’ revenue came from U.S. Government clients.

For more IT Services news, click here.

GSA lets massive US$50b tech contract

IN one of the largest single information technology contracts ever announced, the
US General Services Administration has signed on the dotted line with 29 suppliers for US$50 billion (A$59 billion) worth of IT goods and services.

The so-called Alliant contract is US government-wide acquisition contract (GWAC) that gives federal agencies a centralised source for procuring integrated IT solutions at best price.

The deal, which took more than a year to negotiate, has a five year base, with an option for another five years.

Big winners in the Alliant deal include IT services giants like EDS, CSC, Unisys and IBM, as well as consulting houses like Accenture, BearingPoint and Booz Allen.

GSA serves as a centralised procurement and property management agency for the US federal government, managing more than 20 per cent of the government’s total procurement dollars and influencing the management of US$500 billion in federal assets.

For more Future Parc news click here .

EDS inks $361m CommBank desktop deal

SERVICES firm EDS has a five-year, US$310 million (A$361 million) extension to its desktop and end-user services contract with the Commonwealth Bank.

The deal strengthens EDS’ already deep relationship with the bank. It follows the signing last year of a new US$350 million master IT&T agreement involving enterprise processing services (EPS) for mainframe, mid-range and data storage until 2012.

The new desktop contract covers all computing services directed at end-users, including support and help-desk, email, messaging, MS Outlook web access and mobile information security. It also includes the service contract for ATMs.

“These services will provide enhanced user capabilities for the first time and provide a consistent consumer computing experience at home and also at work,” said the bank’s group executive for Enterprise IT Michael Harte.

“The demand for improved interactivity and convenience are greater today and our users are seeking improved quality.”

“The review process was conducted to capture business needs and external capabilities to give us a better understanding of market capability for desktop and service desk services, which meant that pricing for these services, could be accurately assessed,” Mr Harte said.

The agreement includes a new set of service levels which will ensure the quality of services provided.

“The service levels we have agreed to are at a level equal or better than those typical from others in the industry,” he said. “We believe this extension will be beneficial for both our businesses.”

“It is the Commonwealth Bank’s aim to ensure that the other organisations who are working to support this announcement are also required to raise the standard of service to meet the new arrangements. These organisations include: Dell, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Xerox, Fujitsu, Ricoh, NetApp, NCR and Diebold.”

For more IT Service news, click here.