IBM and Lenovo locked out of Vic Govt PCs until 2011

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 04 April 2006 08:26

IT Industry - Deals

There will be no new Thinkpad notebooks or Lenovo PCs in Victorian Government agencies for the next five years, based on the announcement released today of the PC and Notebook Equipment Panel. The Victorian Government has 40,000 desktops alone, plus thousands of notebooks, putting an estimated value of its PC business at more than $100 million over five years.
The six companies appointed to the new panel were Acer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IPEX, Optima and Toshiba, leaving IBM/Lenovo, which is spending huge sums on a global marketing push, looking very much like the only kid in the class not invited to the party.

Victoria's ICT Minister, Marsha Thompson, said that the Panel be mandatory for use across all Victorian Government departments, meaning there will be no option for agencies to buy anything other than PCs from the vendors listed.

“The Victorian Government is working hard to keep our ICT procurement as efficient as possible and we’re making sure our contracts are the best value for money,” Ms Thomson said.

“This new panel will take advantage of the whole-of-government purchasing power to deliver the best possible outcomes for the State.

“All the contractors on the panel have demonstrated an ability to deliver quality services anywhere in Victoria,” Ms Thomson said.

“We will be carefully monitoring service delivery to regions, especially the on-site warranty services, which will be provided by the end of the next business day and attract equal rates for regional and metropolitan services.  Many of these services will be delivered by local businesses.

“We’ve designed this contract to strike an excellent balance between keeping technology up-to-date and ensuring stable computing platforms across all Victorian Government departments."

A plus for the Government is the inclusion of Australian PC suppliers, Volante (Ipex) and Optima on the Panel.

The Victorian Government is also touting the new Panel as an environmentally friendly contract.

The Minister for the Environment, John Thwaites, said calls for improved environmental management had also been taken into consideration.

“In an Australian first, Bracks Government ICT procurement will include provisions for product stewardship arrangements, enabling the reuse or recycling of old PCs and notebooks,” Mr Thwaites said.

“Electronic waste should be reused or recycled to protect the environment and provide valuable resources for new products.”