Lockheed Martin in $1bn ATO race

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has picked a shortlist of five vendors, including aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin Australia, to compete for a key part of the agency's AU$1 billion technology outsourcing work.

CSC, EDS, Telstra-owned KAZ Group, Lockheed Martin Australia and Unisys have been named as the companies that are being considered for ATO's end-user computing contract. EDS has supplied all of ATO's IT services for the past decade.

ATO has split up its outsourcing contracts into three groups. The end-user computing contract covers its mobile device management, IT service desk, service management, and printer management and is the second of the three infrastructure bundles worth a combined total of around AU$1 billion over five years.

According to ATO, 10 companies submitted expressions of interest in the work. The end-user computing contract is worth around $60 million per year, which includes costs for a desktop hardware refresh.

"We believe the five companies short-listed have the capacity, experience and expertise needed to meet our business requirements," Tax Commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo said in a statement today.

"These companies will now be invited to participate in workshops with the Tax Office to discuss possible technology solutions to support our business needs and future directions."

ATO in March this year announced it had shortlisted CSC Australia, Dimension Data, Optus and Telstra to participate in its workshop process for the managed network services deal — a contract worth AU$55 million per year.

In June, ATO briefed hopeful vendors for its centralised computing contract — the highest value contract of all three bundles.

The department currently spends AU$83 million per year on its mainframes, AU$68 million per year on mid-range computing, and AU$8 million per year on its data warehouse.