The NSW Government has announced the outsourcing the functions of shared service provider to over 6,000 public servants, ServiceFirst, which will transfer to Unisys and Infosys by the end of 2015.

ServiceFirst currently supports agencies including the Department of Finance, Services & Innovation (DFS&I), Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC), Department of Planning and Environment (DP&E), The Treasury (Treasury), Service NSW (SNSW) and the Public Service Commission (PSC).

The Department of Finance, Services and Innovation will manage the transition to the new model in conjunction with existing clients, with ServiceFirst continuing to provide shared services for agencies during this period.

Minister for Finance, Services and Property, Dominic Perrottet, said the Baird Government was continuing its innovation drive by to the business community.

“The hard working ServiceFirst staff have done a terrific job in a difficult environment of making legacy systems and processes work for the agencies they support”, said Mr Perrottet.

“But this model is inefficient, expensive, based on outdated technology and designed for a 9 to 5 world which no longer exists. This is causing our staff frustration and costing taxpayers money.”

“It’s time to move our back office into today’s world, give our public servants the tools they need to work effectively and shift to modern, flexible and scalable technology solutions.”

Unisys and Infosys will offer ERP (enterprise resource planning) and transactional services, such as IT services, payroll, recruitment and accounts from a new specialist delivery centre established in Western Sydney. The government expects savings of around $A20 million per annum.

The new arrangement promises 24/7 user support, with automated forms and digital service requests, a BYOD model and shift to an ‘as a service’ model where agencies will be charged for what they use rather than annual billing

Reduced costs are expected from the consolidation of multiple on-premise ERP solutions into a single cloud based platfor.

Transition to the NSW Government data centres, in line with the NSW ICT Strategy

Mr Perrottet has flagged the potential for other agencies to on-board and leverage scale and efficiencies.