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Government issues $400m desktop tender

The Department of Finance and Deregulation today issued a three-year whole-of-government tender that will see vendors on a panel supply computer equipment to all Federal Government agencies.
Written by Ben Grubb, Contributor

The Department of Finance and Deregulation today issued a three-year whole-of-government tender that will see vendors on a panel supply computer equipment to all Federal Government agencies.

Lindsay Tanner

Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner

(Credit: Minister's Office)

The whole-of-government tender has been issued as a response to a recommendation made by the Gershon review, released in 2008.

It will see Federal Government agencies request desktop computer equipment from a single panel instead of issuing their own tenders, which would replace an interim panel set-up by the Department of Defence late last year. The hope is to save money by using the government's scale and buying power.

Once signed, the agreements would last for three years with two extension options of one year each. The Commonwealth currently spends approximately $100 million per year on desktop hardware according to tender documents. "Depending on market conditions and hardware life cycles the Commonwealth may spend between $300 and $400 million on desktop hardware over the life of the proposed arrangements," it said.

"This procurement activity is part of the government's Coordinated Procurement Contracting initiative to establish whole-of-government arrangements for goods and services in common use to maximise market benefits and deliver efficiencies and savings. When established, agencies will be required to make purchases through these arrangements," it said.

The goal was to have agreements signed with vendors by May this year. Tanner had previously said that arrangements for desktop computing equipment, telecommunications invoice reconciliation services and internet-based network connections were to be in place by the end of the 2009/10 financial year

A further panel for telecommunications management services and devices such as mobile phone handsets has also been planned to go live during the 2010-11 year.

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