Western Australian government signs Datacom, NEC Australia and Atos to whole-of-government IT panel

The Western Australian government has officially signed off on the appointment of Datacom, NEC Australia and Atos as its shortlisted IT services contractors to deliver its whole-of-government GovNext-ICT initiative.

The tentative appointment of the three service providers was revealed in September, when it was reported that the trio had pipped Telstra, IBM and Dimension Data, who were revealed as contenders in April. Fujitsu, the government's data centre provider, was notably missing from the shortlist of bidders.

The contracts were signed off on Friday, in a move the Liberal National Government of WA expects will create savings of between $65 million and $80 million each year.

The arrangement will see the all WA government agencies purchase through one contract, where the three providers will continuously compete to sell their IT services.

The new procurement procedure will enable the rollout of Digital WA, a strategy that aims to see 70 percent of government transactions be conducted online by 2020. The WA government will also consolidate and migrate its existing infrastructure into scalable datacentre environments. The IT panel’s initial contract will last five years, with a five-year extension option.

NEC Australia chief operating officer Mike Barber said the local team looked forward to being a part of the WA government’s digital transformation.

“NEC Australia has a great track record of delivering high-quality services using on-shore capability to state governments. We believe this local expertise and credibility will ensure we deliver the best long-term success to the WA government panel,” he said.

No stranger to high-profile government contracts, NEC Australia was recently awarded a $14 million contract with the Victorian Department of Education and Training, as well as being hired by the Northern Territory government to help overhaul its court software system.  

Datacom hopes to bring its experience delivering services to both Australia and New Zealand government departments to WA. The trans-Tasman IT provider has previously worked with the Federal Department of Health, the ATO, Federal Department of the Environment and Energy, ACCC, NHMRC and Queensland’s Department of Premier and Cabinet, as well as multiple NZ government agencies.

“We’re proud to have been awarded this work after going through such an intensive, competitive tender process. This is an innovative, forward-thinking project that will transform how the Western Australian Government provides services to its citizens,” Datacom Group chief executive Jonathan Ladd said.

State Development Minister Bill Marmion said: "We expect innovation to thrive under this arrangement through the stimulation of local industry, which in turn will ensure diversity of supply.

"The GovNext-ICT contract enables agencies to have access to the latest and greatest technological offerings to assist with improving their online service delivery presence. Suppliers will be delivering services locally using local and, in some cases, national providers."