Defence unveils new IT services landscape

The Department of Defence has named the IT service providers that will support its needs for up to the next ten years.

It has established the long-awaited replacement panel for its huge systems integrator panel arrangement known as the applications managed services partnership agreement (AMSPA).

AMSPA has transacted the bulk of Defence’s system integration work since it was established in 2011, with Accenture, HP, CSC, IBM and BAE given ownership over individual bundles of work.

Defence has been looking to dismantle the arrangement since early 2016 to create a procurement mechanism known as the ICT provider arrangement (ICTPA) that covers a wider scope of services.

The new arrangement is intended to make Defence “a smarter and more sophisticated buyer of ICT services”, allowing niche” and “flexible” suppliers to take part.

It encompasses three service domains: systems integration, application services, and ICT services as defined by the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA).

Changing procurement schemes has not been without its challenges. Defence was forced to pushed back plans introduce the panel and extend the life of AMSPA due to delays with the ICTPA procurement process.

Defence has now revealed the 32 panelists that will provide “digital services for government”, including all existing AMSPA panelists bar BAE systems.

New panelists include a number of the department's top IT suppliers, such as Leidos, Unisys, Fujitsu, Atos, Northrop Grumman, Optus and ABB Enterprise Software.

Big four consulting firms Deloitte, Ernst & Young and KPMG also get a ticket to the dance.

Several suppliers that don’t appear to have conducted work with Defence previously have also made the cut under the new arrangement.

They include Adactin, Azara, Exeter, Icemedia, RPSPM, Sofitel Systems and the Gruden Group.

Defence will now look to retire AMSPA in September 2018, two years after it officially expired.