The government will close a tender for the new tools next week.
The business intelligence tools have also been sought by the Department of Public Works and Services (DPWS), which among other duties, manages the State's massive procurement program. As the CCSU is a division of DPWS, the tender will provide tools to cover both functions.
The Central Corporate Services Unit was established as a shared service centre for outside agencies, and encompasses 2500 personnel throughout the state. Its corporate services range from IT to financial management and fleet management.
The CCSU network consists of about 2500 PCs connected to about 90 servers at 40 different sites. The network runs both Unix and Windows NT/2000 servers, and is a large Novell site - including Novell's Groupwise product.
The DPWS runs an entirely separate network of about 2900 PCs on about 180 servers hosted across 80 major sites.
The department uses Windows NT servers and SQL server for several strategic platforms, including an ageing Netware system, as well as file and print services. It also runs a MIMS enterprise resources planning system (ERP) on a Compaq UNIX-based system, which also hosts its Onyx CRM system.
The department is seeking to replace its existing tools with an integrated business intelligence system. Its aim is to improve the quality and timeliness of reports both with the DPWS as well as its CCSU services. It also hopes the new tools will reduce the current need to re-key data, as well as to improve the productivity problems associated with the manual manipulation of data.
The tender - which closes on Thursday 14 November - includes installation, integration and customization services, as well as ongoing software support and maintenance services.
