Careers New Zealand has entered into a partnership agreement with Vodafone, becoming one of the first government agencies to adopt telecommunications as a Service (TaaS).

The agreement will see Careers New Zealand be relieved of managing its ICT infrastructure as part of its technology transformation with Vodafone.

The partnership is part of an All-of-Government initiative designed to make it simpler to integrate customer services across agencies, and easier for people to interact with government. Careers New Zealand selected Vodafone from the All-of-Government TaaS supplier panel.

The transformation will include fit for purpose managed infrastructure, enhanced mobile and data capability, productive and secure unified communications, video-conferencing capability and the implementation of modern call centre software.

The government's new Telecommunications as a Service (TaaS) panel is designed to provide a range of cross-government telecommunications services sourced from a competitive, innovative market, which are easy for agencies to access, and assist them to provide better customer services. The panel is administered by the Government Chief Information Officer at the Department of Internal Affairs, and reflects the goals of the Government ICT Strategy.

The move will further progress the agency's organisational transformation over the past 18 months.

Vodafone enterprise director Ken Tunnicliffe says the upgrade will help Careers New Zealand tackle the opportunities and challenges of today's digitally connected society.

“Careers New Zealand has a dedicated team of people helping kiwis explore their career potential and make informed learning and work choices,” Tunnicliffe explains.

“Our job is to clear the way so they can do what they do best, and we'll do this by delivering a secure, flexible and reliable ICT framework for them to operate in,” he says.

“Vodafone Ready Government solutions are backed by our leading network to ensure their teams can connect to people, places and things more reliably and securely,” adds Tunnicliffe.

Jane Ratcliffe, Careers New Zealand general manager for channels and digital resources, says the agency is pleased to partner with Vodafone to use their range of managed, modern and flexible ICT services.

“Careers New Zealand's newly mobile responsive website is just one example of what lies ahead for our organisation as we unlock TaaS alongside Vodafone,” Ratcliffe says.

“We selected Vodafone because they were very quick to understand the transformational journey we are on and offered relevant solutions to further our vision,” she says.

Careers New Zealand is a nationwide agency with offices in multiple locations. Employees mostly engage with the public through Advice Line call centre and a high traffic website, which is projected to receive 4.2 million New Zealand visits this year.

 “We envisage boosting productivity for staff through enhanced connectivity and mobility, creating an environment where individuals work in the way they are most effective,” Ratcliffe explains.

“We will also upgrade the software underpinning Advice Line. This means the service will be efficient and focused, leading to greater satisfaction for our Advice Line customers,” she says.

“The technology options open to us through this partnership will transform the way we work, and provide us with opportunities to innovate even further,” says Ratcliffe.

“We trust Vodafone's solutions and network will enable us to achieve the results we are looking for.