Federal govt gets new telecomms supply panel

The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) has announced a new group of seven companies in its whole-of-government Telecommunications Management Panel.

The new Telecommunications Management Panel member companies are:

• Boeing Defence Australia
• Bridge IT Engineering
• Consultel IT and T
• Fujitsu Australia
• NEC Australia
• Optus Networks
• Telstra Corporation

Part of the federal Department of Finance and Deregulation, AGIMO advises government agencies on best practices for ICT procurement.

In announcing the new panel, AGIMO first secretary, John Sheridan, wrote this is the first time agencies will be able to procure the management layer of underlying telecommunications products and services through a whole-of-government panel arrangement.

“The panel will help Australian government agencies procure services to supplement their internal capabilities,” Sheridan said. “This arrangement will also achieve savings and efficiencies through the procurement process and better utilisation of aggregated buying power.”

Earlier this month, Sheridan said whole-of-government supply arrangements have resulted in a dramatic reduction in ICT spending across government – as much as $1 billion over four years.

Specifically, according to Sheridan, the Microsoft Volume Sourcing Arrangement panel has reduced Microsoft licence spending by 25 per cent and the Data Centre Facilities Panel has cut 30 per cent off data centre costs.

Back in March AGIMO released a new open source guide for government agencies.

[See this interview series with Australian government CIO Ann Steward]

AGIMO’s new Telecommunications Management Panel is designed to help agencies design new telecommunications solutions; manage mobile phone fleets; manage telecommunication services contracts; improve billing and inventory management; procure telecommunications help desk support; and source specialist telecommunication management advice to complement internal resources.

“A number of companies may be added to the panel in the near future, as negotiations and contractual arrangements are finalised,” Sheridan said.

The panel is mandatory for agencies under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 and optional for agencies under the Commonwealth Authority and Companies Act 1997. State government agencies can also use this panel.

The Telecommunications Management Panel has an initial term of three years until May, 2014. The initial term may be extended by the Department of Finance and Deregulation for a further two, twelve-month periods.

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