James Riley
Monday, 22 March 2010 11:16
IT Policy -
Government Tech Policy
Page 1 of 3
Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has centralised billions of dollars worth of technology purchasing power within the Department of Finance as part a sweeping changes to the way the Commonwealth manages its data centre operations.
The 15-year whole of government strategy, which aggregates and consolidates the Federal Government's data centre requirements – for physical space, infrastructure and services – is the biggest single change to Government ICT procurement since 1996.
The changes effectively take the planning, procurement and management of Commonwealth data centres out of the hands of individual departments and agencies, and centralises it within the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO).
Speaking at a CeBIT conference in Sydney this morning, Mr Tanner said the strategy would consolidate the number of data centre sites used by government across Australia, and deliver well over a $1 billion in savings.
"Sharing sites and services will reduce the duplication, inefficiencies and un-necessary costs associated with base infrastructure," Mr Tanner said.
The long-anticipated data centre strategy changes were first canvassed in the Gershon Review of Government ICT procurement and use, but been the subject of a series of consulting reports.
Mr Tanner said a large part of the savings foreshadowed by Sir Peter Gershon would be delivered through consolidation measures. But huge efficiency gains would also be realised by aggregating Government's data centre services needs.
