Queensland Treasury joins the queue for cloud email

Queensland Treasury and Trade (QTT) has confirmed it is ready and willing to transition to a cloud email solution as soon as a whole-of-government deal has been secured.

As reported by iTnews earlier this month, the Department of Science, IT, Innovation and the Arts (DSITIA) is in the process of evaluating bids from two unnamed vendors under a closed tender process for public cloud communication and collaboration services.

QTT will hold off from planning the specifics of the move until DSITIA completes negotiations so it can piggy-back off the deal.

“A decision about which platform we migrate to will be made as soon as the whole-of-government panel arrangements for the provision of electronic communication and collaboration services has been put in place by DSITIA,” a spokeswoman for Treasurer Tim Nicholls said.

“Queensland Treasury and Trade is actively working with DSITIA as well as several other agencies who are moving towards cloud email solutions,” she said.

Queensland’s Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning is also running a separate cloud email trial at present.

According to the Queensland government’s newly implemented ICT dashboard, the first stages of the QTT cloud program will cost roughly $2 million and should be fully implemented by the beginning of December next year.

In addition to the communication and calendaring tools, DSITIA plans to introduce new records management capability to replace its end-of-life eDocs system.

The move comes as a direct response to the Queensland Commission of Audit, which recommended that the state’s agencies and departments embrace as-a-service IT products by default in the hunt for government-wide efficiencies.

“The migration to a cloud-based email solution will provide savings through reduction in infrastructure, licensing and operational costs. It is also envisage a cloud-based solution will provide a more flexible delivery platform resulting in improved access to information,” said the spokeswoman.

DSITIA implementation timeline slips

Queensland's ICT dashboard reveals that DSITIA's own proof-of-concept email roll-out is at risk of breaching its first deadline, causing it to register an 'amber' warning status.

The delay to the $3.4 million project has come about “due to a number of identified risks (that require mitigation), likely to impact timeframes,” reads a note on DSITIA initiatives list.

The department originally intended to have a cloud email solution rolled out across its own workforce by the end of 2013 as a pilot for other agencies, but at this stage the project has not progressed beyond evaluation of tender responses.

In the coming month DSITIA also plans to issue a whole-of-government cloud strategy which is expected to include a legal framework and model contract template to guide agencies procuring commodity cloud products.