The Australian Department of Defence has signed a $95.5 million contract with IBM for the roll out of the SAP S/4 HANA Defence and Security Industry platform.
Under the 18 month contract, IBM Services will deploy the software which it says will provide a single, trusted view of critical information to improve Defence’s operational effectiveness and deliver significant cost savings.
This is the first phase of a multi-year program to modernise Defence’s information systems and optimise processes. The works aim to deliver on the key recommendations from the government’s ‘First Principles Review of Defence’ which tasked the agency with ensuring it is fit for purpose and able to deliver against its strategy with the minimum resources necessary.
A Defence ERP program spokesperson said in a statement: “The ERP program plans to roll out initial capability in 2020 followed by a larger release in 2022. The program will progressively deliver solutions that will affect every Defence member and transform the way we do business. It will provide a near real-time view of critical information across the department to better inform decision-making.”
Defence said the platform will initially enhance its logistics, land maintenance and engineering capabilities – replacing a wide range of existing end-of-life systems.
It will provide Defence personnel with an platform to significantly improve productivity and effectiveness in their operations, ensuring the right equipment is in the right place, at the right time.
In January this year, Defence issued $190 million worth of contracts to suppliers. The largest was a $99.1 million deal with Fujitsu to supply desktop-related services for about 100,000 Defence personnel across more than 450 locations nationwide. In February, these users migrated from Windows XP to Windows 10.
Kinetic IT is providing ICT service desk and service integration management in two separate contracts running until September 2022, totalling $59.1 million and $32.3 million.
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