Govt looks to new Microsoft reseller deal
The Department of Finance and Deregulation is seeking vendors to serve the whole of government as its Microsoft Large Account Reseller (LAR), installing a panel to continue the work of Data#3, which is the current reseller.
(Microsoft sign, campus, Redmond, Washington, USA image by Wonderlane, CC BY 2.0)
Finance currently manages whole-of-government Microsoft software needs, under what is known as the Microsoft Volume Sourcing Agreement (VSA), which provides pricing and licensing conditions for the supply of Microsoft products.
The LAR for the existing VSA agreement is Data#3. The company was initially brought on-board to work with Defence in November 2008, with the aim of using the agreement for whole of government.
The RFT released by Finance yesterday aims to select a new supplier, or a panel of suppliers, that will serve the government for an initial term of three years, followed by three optional extensions of 12 months that can be taken up at Finance's discretion.
If the RFT yields no suitable suppliers, Finance said that it would continue its current agreement with Data#3 through existing extension options. However, even if Finance appoints one or more suppliers to a new panel, it also still has the ability to use Data#3 in parallel with the new suppliers.
Tenderers are required to express their pricing in terms of the margin that they will gain from the normal Channel Buy Price of acquiring Microsoft licences, and, if selected as a supplier, must be able to indicate to government the Channel Buy Price for each Microsoft Product.
Finance expects to execute its head agreement with successful suppliers in May 2012.