Strategic review of the whole of Australian Government single seller arrangements: Whole of Government technology arrangements

Whole of Government technology arrangements

4.1 The SSAs are available for use by the States and Territories, with approval from the SSA seller, except for the Microsoft agreement. States and Territories that use the SSAs pay the CAF to the DTA.

4.2 Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria use the SSAs the most. NSW and WA Governments make the greatest use of the AWS SSA, and this was cited as a useful mechanism to get access to better pricing and discounts.

4.3 Separate from the SSAs, it is common that States and Territories have their own whole-of-government arrangements with these technology sellers. The table below summarises this landscape.

Table 10 State and Territory based whole of government agreements with technology sellers
State / Territory	AWS	IBM	Microsoft	Oracle	Rimini Street	SAP
ACT	Nil	Nil	Yes	Nil	Nil	Nil
NSW	Nil	Yes	Yes	Yes	Nil	Yes
NT	Nil	Yes	Yes	Nil	Nil	Nil
QLD	Yes	Nil	Yes	Yes	Nil	Yes
SA	Nil	Nil	Yes	In progress	Nil	Nil
TAS	Nil	Nil	Yes	Nil	Nil	Nil
VIC	Yes	Nil	Yes	Yes	Nil	Yes
WA	Nil	Nil	Yes	Yes	Nil	Nil

4.4 Microsoft and Oracle have the most State or Territory whole-of-government agreements in place.

4.5 Other major technology sellers (e.g. Google, Salesforce, Adobe) also have significant arrangements with State and Territory governments.

4.6 The review engaged with representatives from the United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Canada (CAN) and New Zealand (NZ) to compare Australia’s (AUS) approach to contracting with large technology sellers.

4.7 Although nations worldwide have a wide range of models to engage technology sellers, Australia is not unique in seeking the benefits through scale. The figure below provides an overview of where key comparative nations fall on a continuum from decentralised to centralised in managing major technology sellers.

The figure shows the continuum of nations from 'Most decentralised' to 'Most centralised': United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. — Figure 15 Continuum of nations

4.8 The figure below further outlines the comparison between the respective nations.

NATIONS	FACTS	FEATURES	COMMONALITIES
USA	Lead is Federal CIO in White House Approximately 438 agencies No SSAs or shared services IT Operating Plan Governed by a CIO council Funds for ICT modernisation	Limited authority Multiple lead agencies with different roles No mandating legislation Documented strategies & principles Limited budgetary incentives	Common benefits sought: Discounts Better, more accountable use of money Better services for citizens including use once access Interoperability of systems Information sharing among systems Better leveraging of modern technologies (e.g. cloud, AI) Common challenges: Cyber security Sufficiency of government ICT workforce / skills to assess proposals Lack of specialist technology understanding in government - public service & political Unwillingness to upgrade or abandon legacy ICT Limited interest by private sector to increase transparency of Government spending
UK	Lead is Chief Digital and Data Office in the Cabinet Office Approximately 465 agencies Some SSAs and shared services Blueprint for Modern Digital Government Governed by Digital and Data Board	Some authority Multiple lead agencies with different roles Some mandatory legislation Documented strategies & principles Limited budgetary control
NZ	Lead is Government Chief Digital Officer Approximately 32 agencies SSAs and shared services are used Common ICT Capability Program Governed by the Digital Executive Board	Authority in several agencies Broad mandate in legislation Detailed mandate in policy Documented strategy Active programmes Limited budgetary control
CAN	Lead is Shared Services Canada (SSC) Approximately 213 agencies Mandate in legislation Procurement for email, data centres and networks all done by SSC	Single authority in a statutory agency Detailed mandate in legislation, however, there are some limited exceptions to this mandate

4.9 Further information on the key commonalities and points of difference with other jurisdictions is provided below.

Chapter 4: Key commonalities and differences

Strategic review of the whole of Australian Government single seller arrangements

Whole of Government technology arrangements

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