Unisys wins $12m Victoria deal

The Victorian government has awarded service provider Unisys a $12 million, three-year managed services contract for two departments' IT infrastructures.

The contract covers service desk, desktop support, installs, moves, adds, changes, Lotus Notes administration, network management and server management, Unisys said in a statement.

Some 1300 users at five Melbourne CBD locations of the Department of Premier of Cabinet (DPC) and the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) would benefit, Unisys said.

Ian Thomas, director of information and technology services for DPC and DTF, said Unisys had previously provided services to those departments but the new deal also included disaster recovery, process improvement and consulting.

"Having assessed our needs, we set the bar much higher," he said. "Unisys understood our existing needs, but also rose to the challenge of meeting our increased expectations for innovative service delivery and value for money."

“Significant” process change was needed to align with an IT infrastructure library (ITIL) framework, with the aim of cutting costs while improving service. Unisys had demonstrated a commitment to service management, Thomas said.

"ITIL is now the world's most widely accepted approach to IT service management, providing a cohesive service catalogue and responsibility matrix that reduces expensive contract changes by ensuring both client and supplier approval,” he said.

Guy Barnes, Australasia general manager at Unisys Global Infrastructure Services, said its local experience had helped the global service provider win the open tender.

“We demonstrated our ability to manage the organisation's assets more effectively, including its people, infrastructure, systems and products,” Barnes said.