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NZ Govt TaaS supply panel named
Fri, 13th Nov 2015
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Spark Digital, Vodafone, Datacom and Dimension Data are among the 12 companies appointed to the New Zealand Government's Telecommunications-as-a-service panel.

The TaaS supplier panel will provide a range of telecommunications and managed security services for government agencies with the aim of changing the way telecommunications services are managed and used by government agencies and saving taxpayers at least $20 million to $30 million within the first two years.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says agencies will be able to purchase the services on demand easily, with no minimum terms or volume.

“This means they can focus on creating services that their customers want, rather than having to worry about owning, operating and maintaining large amounts of telecommunications equipment and running costly procurement processes,” Joyce says.

The list of providers announced today is open to allow services and membership to evolve as technology, delivery models and requirements change.

“This will allow services and the providers to remain innovative, relevant and competitive,” Joyce says.

The full list is:

Agile Integration

Aura Redshield Security

CityLink

Cogito Group

Datacom Systems Wellington

Dimension Data New Zealand

Fujitsu New Zealand

Mobile Mentor NZ

SMX

Spark New Zealand Trading

Two Degrees New Zealand

Vodafone New Zealand

Tim Miles, Spark Digital chief executive, says “TaaS will simplify the way customers interact with us and consume their services, it's the new standard for how telecommunications is delivered and purchased.

“We have brought together world-class tools and services with our significant investment in infrastructure to ensure our customers have the best ICT services available.

Russell Stanners, Vodafone chief executive, says Vodafone has been working on a suite of telecommunications services designed to enable government to better engage with an increasingly digital public, for 18 months.

The Vodafone Ready Government proposition offers a range of standardised, 'as a service' solutions across mobile communications, site connectivity, contact centre operations and service aggregation.

“We live in a world where continuous change is normal and technology is critical to achieving business outcomes," Stanners says. "Ready Government will help government agencies better serve their communities by allowing them to interact easily and securely in a digital environment.

The TaaS panel is administered by the Government Chief Information Officer at the Department of Internal Affairs.