The Department of Internal Affairs has added IBM to its panel of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers, in a deal Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain says could save taxpayers up to $250 million over the next ten years.
IBM was part of an initial group of four suppliers shortlisted by the department for inclusion last April. Of those, Revera and Datacom were added to the panel in October. The fourth was Telecom IT subsidiary, Gen-i.
All services will be split between IBM’s new $80 million data center at Highbrook Business Park in Auckland, as well as its older data center at Petone in Wellington.
In a statement, Tremain says the completion of the IaaS contracts is another milestone in the government’s move to use its bargaining power to drive better value for taxpayers.
"All agencies across the state sector will be able to select the service offering which is right for them,” Tremain says, "leading to greater flexibility and cost savings for taxpayers.
"The projected savings of up to $250 million go to the heart of the government’s drive to reprioritise spending to achieve better results.”
IBM New Zealand managing director Jennifer Moxon says she’s ‘delighted’ the government will be able to leverage IBM’s global investment in R & D.
"IBM looks forward to working closely with the government agencies to provide data center services,” Moxon says, "and ultimately support high quality experiences for New Zealanders using and accessing government services.”
