Finance hands whole-of-govt IT panels over to DTA

Finance is preparing to hand the technology procurement arrangements it gave birth to over to the Digital Transformation Agency, marking the end of its management of government IT.

The transfer of the procurement panels follows an October directive by the federal government that ordered the remaining IT functions within Finance be transitioned to the DTA.

The restructure was intended to end the split between back-office IT and procurement (Finance) and front-end services (DTA), and centralise government technology in one location.

It gave the DTA responsibility for whole-of-govt IT and digital service delivery, IT procurement, shared government IT, funding for whole-of-govt IT platforms, and advice on government IT and service delivery.

The orders also established a central program management office that oversights all significant IT and digital investments.

Finance is now preparing to pass on responsibility for the whole-of-government IT buying schemes that were given life within the agency to the DTA. The panels - many of which are mandatory for agencies to buy through - will be transferred over by May 1.

The DTA will take over panels spanning cloud services, data centre services, hardware, mobile and telco services, managed WAN and internet, and the government's Microsoft volume sourcing arrangement.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all suppliers and agencies for their participation in the Commonwealth’s whole of government panel arrangements to date," Finance's head of technology and procurement John Sheridan said in a statement.

The future for Sheridan and his technology team is unclear.

The DTA has scooped up 34 staff from Finance since its remit was expanded, and it will take in more than 15 more over the coming months.