Victoria opens up IT services panel again

Renai LeMay
Friday, 15 July 2011 13:54

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

The panel is the mechanism through which Victorian Government departments and agencies procure a wide variety of IT services, principally in areas such as enterprise architecture design, the development and implementation of new systems, web hosting, IT benchmarking and so on. It specifically does not cover the purchase of IT hardware or software licences.

The existing eServices panel was signed in mid-2007 and included about 250 IT services suppliers on its roster. However, a new panel was inked this year, with significantly less companies on the Government's list '” 188. 600 applications were received for spots on the panel.

Following complaints from industry about the brevity of the list, Victorian technology minister Gordon Rich-Phillips yesterday noted it was apparent there was a need for 'a broader panel', and announced the panel tendering period had opened again, with the overarching initiative to be completed by 31 October this year.

'Companies will have another opportunity to secure a place on the panel, which will result in greater choice and competition for departments as well as improved access for more small and medium enterprises to government business opportunities,' said Rich-Phillips in a statement.

The state's Department of Treasury and Finance will provide additional detail about the evaluation criteria to assist any new tenderers in the process, as well as those companies who were previously unsuccessful in gaining spots on the panel. Companies will be able to either maintain their existing bids or submit further bids.