Fujitsu Australia Limited has been selected as the preferred tenderer for the Northern Territory Government’s four-year, $150 million desktop and helpdesk service contract, ousting the incumbent CSC. The contract involves supply of desktop, laptop, server and associated technologies, including a full helpdesk facility.

In winning the tender, Fujitsu beat off challenges from CSC Australia, Hewlett Packard and Unisys Australia.

CSC had provided the services since July 2001 when they were first outsourced from government, and the contract, which is the largest ICT contract in the NT, expires on 29 June 2006.

According to the NT Governnment, the tender process gave the Government the opportunity to seek increased service levels, technology improvements, enhanced ICT industry developments and tangible efficiencies.

“The bids from a highly competitive field have been the subject of a thorough tender evaluation process led by the Department of Corporate and Information Services,” corporate and information services minister Dr Chris Burns said.

“Fujitsu has been chosen as preferred tenderer because they best met the overall requirements of the contract, primarily by providing the best value for taxpayers’ money, and best meeting the business requirements of the agencies.

“In particular, Fujitsu have demonstrated how they propose to deliver unprecedented levels of services to regional and remote NTG sites. We anticipate no net loss in the number of jobs required to deliver these services. In fact, a slight increase in jobs is expected.”

Dr Burns said contract negotiations with Fujitsu would now begin. “If these negotiations are successful, we expect the new contract to be completed by the end of March, allowing for an orderly transition to the new four-year contract which commences on 29 June 2006.”