X
Business

HP beats out IBM for ATO deal

After a lengthy negotiation period, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has chosen a preferred tenderer for its centralised computing bundle.
Written by Luke Hopewell, Contributor

After a lengthy negotiation period, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has chosen a preferred tenderer for its centralised computing bundle.

HP Enterprise Services (formerly known as EDS) beat out IBM as preferred tenderer for the lucrative deal. EDS was previously the ATO's prime IT supplier, providing end-user computing and managed network services as well as centralised computing. However, that large contract was broken up into three smaller bundles. Optus won the managed network services portion and the end-user portion went to Lockheed Martin.

The centralised computing contract is set to include the provision and support services for mainframe, midrange data warehouse, storage and secure gateway, as well as data centre facilities, networks and management.

The ATO will now workshop a final agreement with its preferred tenderer and expects to sign contracts in December.

While HP has come out on top in this instance, the tax office has stipulated that it may reinstate other shortlisted tenderers if it can't reach a "value for money proposition with the preferred tenderer".

Other shortlisted tenderers included IBM Australia, CSC Australia and Lockheed Martin Australia. The latter two withdrew their candidacy late last year.

Editorial standards