CenITex, the Victorian government’s troubled ICT shared services agency, appears to be planning to shift from a provider to a broker of ICT services. It is believed CenITex chief Michael Vanderheide, briefed staff on May 20 about the shift in direction at the agency. The briefing slides – which are still yet to be verified – were reportedly obtained by Melissa Fyfe, a journalist at The Age, who subsequently posted them online. CenITex had not responded to CIO’s request to verify the documents at time of publication. Although Vanderheide’s alleged presentation indicated he didn’t know all the details yet, the slides indicate the Victorian government appears to be favouring a move to outsource four core desktop, processing, storage and network services, which are currently being provided to agencies by CenITex. Under the new scenario, CenITex would still retain core management functions. “Evidence supports approaching the market for services in all four of these areas,” one of the slides states. One slide said that the agency’s current operating model is under pressure from supply side forces such as new capabilities around cloud, and demand side forces such as utility ICT models that challenges the agency’s cost structures. Budgetary constraints, and pricing and cost transparency problems were also causing problems. According to the presentation, “lower costs with vendors were driven by a mix of factors we can replicate” such as new technologies, labour, service levels and standardisation. The presentation said where the agency’s costs differed, “approximately 15 per cent was driven by scale differences and the rest related to the complexity of our environment.” The presentation also said “about 75 per cent of desktop, storage and hosting environments are legacy and our customers don’t have the funds to migrate” while “close to 80 per cent of our environment is fixed cost” and “revenues are expected to drop or not grow for 3 of the 4 service streams.” CenITex has come under fire in recent times. Last year, the agency was the subject of the Victorian Ombudsman’s report after the ombudsman heard allegations of improper conduct by a whistleblower. Since then, the division at the heart of the investigation, Efficient Technology Services (ETS), has been closed and the agency cut 200 staff. Vanderheide was hired as CEO of CenITex in July 2011. In his report, the ombudsman acknowledged that “he [Vanderheide] is taking steps to improve CenITex.” Related content brandpost Sponsored by BMC Why CIOs should prioritize AIOps in 2024 AIOps empowers IT to manage services by incorporating AI/ML into operations. By Jeff Miller Dec 06, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership opinion Generative AI in enterprises: LLM orchestration holds the key to success In the dynamic landscape of AI, LLMs represent a pivotal breakthrough. Unlike traditional AI, which demands frequent data updates, LLMs possess the ability to learn and adapt in real-time. This mirrors human learning and positions LLMs as essential f By Shail Khiyara Dec 06, 2023 10 mins Generative AI Artificial Intelligence brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks How gen AI is joining the holiday shopping season One year after the launch of ChatGPT, the retail industry is embracing generative AI to deliver a variety of benefits By Elliot Markowitz Dec 06, 2023 4 mins Generative AI brandpost Sponsored by NTT DATA Transform your technology and accelerate business outcomes with NTT DATA’s Technology Solutions By Miriam Murphy, Chief Executive Officer at NTT, Europe Dec 06, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe