Victoria locks in Notes licence - News - Business

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Victoria locks in Notes licence

By Stephen Withers, 0
May 17, 2002
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/Victoria-locks-in-Notes-licence/0,139023166,120265322,00.htm

Hot on the heels of the AU$80 million contract with Microsoft earlier this week, the Victorian Government has signed a four-year deal with IBM covering the use of Lotus software on more than 30,000 desktop systems.

At AU$8 million, the size of the contract is one-tenth of the Microsoft deal, though the cost savings in dollar terms could be even greater.

"As a result of the agreement, the Victorian Government will save between AU$10-$20 million during the life of the contract, which is a fantastic result for Victorian taxpayers," said the Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Marsha Thomson.

The Microsoft contract was said to save the Government AU$19 million on retail prices, though it is unlikely that a major customer would pay full price.

The Lotus software being licensed includes workplace collaboration, document management, workflow, e-learning and knowledge management facilities.

"This functionality, that extends well beyond e-mail and diary, significantly enhances strategic business application development opportunities within Victorian Government," Thomson said.

"The deal is also a boon for the Victorian industry as IBM's Lotus Software business partners will benefit through more business [and] partnering opportunities in assisting departments in application development and systems integration," she added.