No 'Bloodbath' In Queensland

April 20th, 2006: Industry reports that Queensland's Department of Child Safety has 'dumped' both Futisu and Onyx Software in implementation of its integrated client management system (ICMS) are unfounded.

Early reports of the fall-out from the DCS system stated that, "a bloodbath has seen around 20 contractors marched out the door earlier this month." However, these contractors were said to include Fujitsu and Onyx.

IDM contacted both organisations, and received the following response: "In September 2004, the Department of Child Safety commissioned Fujitsu, Onyx and Microsoft to deliver the first phase of its Integrated Client Management System (ICMS) Carer Directory. In March 2005, this phase was completed on time and on budget, with the delivery of the solution design, which was accepted by the Department of Child Safety.

"Neither Fujitsu nor Onyx has had any further involvement with the Department of Child Safety ICMS project since 25 July 2005, when the Department announced that it would be leveraging internal resources for the subsequent phases of the ICMS project. The work carried out by Fujitsu and Onyx prior to March 2005 has had no direct bearing on the current status of the ICMS Project.

What does appear to be fact, however, is that the department's Information Renewal Initiative (IRI) - of which the ICMS is a part - has blown-out from initial budget assessments of AU$44-million in 2004 to a predicted AU$61-million.

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