EDS extends contract with Australian Taxation Office
EDS extends contract with Australian Taxation Office
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has given EDS a vote of confidence by extending the company’s IT outsourcing contract for an additional two years. The contract extension, valid until June 2006, is valued at A$300 million (US$160 million).
EDS assumed responsibility for the delivery of Information Technology and Telecommunications (IT&T) infrastructure services to the ATO in June 1999 in a AU$500 million agreement regarded as the largest by an Australian federal government agency. The ATO serves nine million taxpayers and has a staff of 19,000 across 98 locations.
From the start of the initial contract, the challenge for EDS was to hit the ground running, as the ATO was preparing for Year 2000 contingencies and the phased implementation of the largest taxation reform in Australia's history - the introduction of a goods and services tax (GST).
More recently, the EDS-ATO account team has been involved in a major refresh of the ATO’s desktop environment, totalling more than 20,000 PCs.
EDS’ contract extends to the provision, maintenance, management and operation of the ATO’s Information Technology infrastructure and includes mainframe services, data warehousing, 24,000 desktop PCs, 1,000 midrange servers, 2,000 printers and more than 4,000 laptop computers. On a monthly basis, EDS handles more than 20,000 help desk calls in support of ATO staff and systems.
Other highlights of the ATO-EDS partnership included: The successful implementation of Year 2000 contingencies; Major upgrades to the ATO's IT&T infrastructure; The introduction of a multi-tiered virus management system; On-time delivery of complex new IT infrastructure to support the implementation of GST, including the delivery of IT infrastructure to 65 new sites; and Sustained improvement in the reliability and availability of the ATO's complex IT systems.
Don Easter the managing director for EDS Australia said: "EDS has established a very stable yet flexible working relationship with the Australian Tax Office, which has responded to major business and IT demands including preparation for Y2K and the launch of the new Australian tax system in 2000."
More recently, the EDS-ATO account team has been involved in a major refresh of the ATO’s desktop environment, totalling more than 20,000 PCs.
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