Software giant Microsoft has got its foot in the door of Australian government offices, striking a AU$10.5 million licensing and IT partnership deal.
The deal will radically overhaul desktops and up-skill white collar workers across thousands of government agencies.
It may be the first public sector partnership of this scale Microsoft has scooped here, but more deals on a state-level are in the pipeline, according to a company spokesperson.
"There are similar arrangements being discussed or in the early stages [of development]," a Microsoft Australia spokesperson told ZDNet.
The South Australian government's commitment to improving government agency services encompasses a two-year licensing agreement as well as funding that will be matched by Microsoft for a Software Innovation Centre, to be launched in SA early 2001.
"We're creating a centre where Microsoft and Microsoft partners can link together with government agencies to work on specific agency problems and deliver technical outcomes that will ultimately provide better services to customers," the spokesperson said.
The Innovation Centre, which isn't bounded by the two-year agreement, will house about three full-time Microsoft employees as well as three government staff.
The arrangement will provide Windows 2000, Office 2000 and 2000 series Back Office to 14,600 SA government agencies.
"Microsoft is aiming to up-skill the South Australian government workforce and local IT&T industry partners through user training and development on the Microsoft platform," Microsoft Australia MD Paul Houghton said.
South Australian Minister for the Information Economy, Dr Michael Armitage said the partnership "offers a significant opportunity for both the government and the state to benefit from a long-term relationship [with Microsoft]".
