Optima in NSW DET contract

Local builder Optima Technology Solutions has been selected to supply notebook computers to the NSW Department of Education and Training (DET).

The contract comes hot on the heels of a recent $2.3 million contract to provide desktop and related services to the NSW Department of Corrective Services (DCS).

It is believed that Hewlett-Packard and Apple Computer were also selected to supply notebooks to DET under the department’s $16 million, three-year ‘Technology for Learning’ (TFL) project.

Optima’s Centoris G300 Intel Centrino-based notebooks would be delivered to government schools throughout NSW. The builder had already supplied 5000 desktops and notebooks to DET under the first phase of the T4L rollout.

It was expected that a rollout of 12,000 notebooks would be shared among the three vendors over the life of the project.

Cornel Ung, managing director at Optima said the department had not yet released information about the total number of notebooks it was required to supply under the project.

The rollout would begin in January, according to Ung.

Optima had a 20 percent share of desktop and notebook infrastructure rollouts at DET. It also previously supplied desktops to the department along with competitors Apple, IBM and ASI Solutions.

“We’ve gained great momentum in the local government space, winning a number of key contracts over the past few months. Our success lies in our ability to support hardware with a complete range of customised services,” Ung said.

To accompany the rollout, Optima had partnered with Cisco, Microsoft and DET to develop a training program for teachers, principles and IT professionals throughout the region dubbed ‘Tools for Technology’.