IBM has expanded its existing whole-of-government agreement with the New South Wales government, allowing Big Blue to continue offering services to the state’s departments and their agencies for another three years.
The contract is a whole-of-government head agreement, under which agencies enter into their own contracts for supply of IT goods and services. Given that the head agreement is a standing offer with no commitments on expenditure, there is no prescribed contract value.
The original contract was signed in the fourth quarter of 2019. This is now considered year two of a five-year contract, which has also expanded from the provision of IBM technology to include the option to procure IBM professional services and IBM cloud services such as public cloud and SaaS.
“The government’s nine departments and their agencies will be able to more easily access technologies like IBM hybrid cloud, AI and security, as well as ideation services through IBM Garage to accelerate innovation and advance workforce skills,” IBM explained.
“The different agencies within NSW government are embracing a range of technologies including hybrid cloud, security, data, and AI and building business platforms on industry-leading platforms such a Salesforce and SAP.”
Further, IBM told ZDNet agencies are undertaking application modernisation programs to transform legacy systems, building and enhancing new business platforms such as Salesforce and SAP, and embracing IBM hybrid cloud and AI services with the aim of improving the citizen experience and how they deliver government services.
“Some examples of the possible new experiences that the people of NSW could benefit from over time include: Improving the digital experience for regional citizens, improving the ability to respond to natural disasters and provide better support for those affected, improving services with digital end-to-end capability for key government services, or helping state universities to automate the process to access research grants and commercialise the research outcomes,” IBM said.
IBM Australia and New Zealand MD Katrina Troughton expects the arrangement to foster a culture that will also help advance the skills profile of the state and create job opportunities in high-growth tech areas.
“After more than 30 years working with the New South Wales government, this is an important milestone for our relationship and we look forward to collaborating on solutions that impact the lives of the more than eight million people who call New South Wales home,” she said.
In July 2019, IBM was handed a AU$1 billion contract from the Australian government to be its whole-of-government technology partner.
