Major govt IT project hits a road bump - Singapore
Differences over processes and systems have surfaced between the companies behind one of the leading consortiums, say sources
By AMIT ROY CHOUDHURY
(SINGAPORE) An ambitious $1.5 billion plan to outsource the front-end information technology (IT) requirements of public sector departments has hit a last-minute hitch, according to sources familiar with the deal.
With the outsourcing of its front-end IT requirements to vendors, the government expects to shave 30 per cent from its annual IT costs.
BT understands that a major difference of opinion has cropped up between the companies behind one of the four consortiums, called One Team.
The four consortiums had been short-listed by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) in a preliminary selection process for the Standard Operating Environment (SOE) tender.
The government announced in October last year that the winner of the SOE tender, which covers all government departments - except for schools under the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Defence and its associated organisations - would be announced by the end of this month.
The One Team consortium is led by local systems integrator NCS with IBM as the major partner. NCS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel).
BT understands that the two companies disagreed on some systems and processes to be offered should they win the contract.
When contacted, both NCS and IBM declined to confirm or deny the rumours. While a spokeswoman of NCS told BT: ‘We respect that the SOE tender is still undergoing evaluation and, as such, it is not appropriate for NCS to comment at this point.’
An IBM spokeswoman’s response was similar: ‘We are unable to comment on your specific questions about our participation in the SOE tender while the outcome is still pending.’
It is learnt that the differences of opinion between NCS and IBM centred on, among other things, which email and messaging system would be offered by the One Team consortium if it won the SOE contract.
According to BT’s sources, while NCS wants to offer a choice of either IBM’s Lotus Notes or Microsoft’s Exchange system, IBM wants Lotus Notes to be the only system on offer. Lotus Notes is currently used by the government.
When specifically asked about this, both NCS and IBM again declined comment.
Given the track record of both these firms, One Team was considered by industry watchers to be a strong candidate in the race for the SOE contract.
Apart from One Team, the other consortiums in the bid are iN’spire, comprising Hewlett-Packard (HP) and local firm ST Electronics; One Meridian, comprising EDS and local firm Singapore Computer Systems (SCS); and NexGenea, comprising NEC and Computer Science Corporation.
When contacted by BT, an IDA spokeswoman also declined to comment, saying that ‘as the SOE tender evaluation is in the process of being finalised, it is not appropriate for us to elaborate on details now’.
Speaking to BT, the IBM spokeswoman reiterated her company’s ’strong commitment to helping the Singapore government and governments in other countries build open standards-based infrastructure conducive to transformation, economic growth and collaborative innovation’.
She added: ‘We firmly believe that open systems are critical to enable inter-operability in a globally networked world.’
The IBM spokeswoman went on to add that the company has been a leader in adopting open systems and open technologies. ‘We have been working with governments around the world and the private sector to encourage collaborative innovation and adapt its policies, regulations and systems to enable markets and people to engage in cross-organisational, cross-border, cross-disciplinary innovation.’
She noted that IBM is the leading provider of business and technology solutions and ‘has helped thousands of clients throughout the globe to realise the value of the technology investments’.
The SOE, which involves outsourcing 60,000 seats or computers, was announced by the IDA in April 2005.
The idea is quite revolutionary in the sense that with the outsourcing of its front-end IT requirements to vendors, the government expects to shave 30 per cent from its annual IT costs.
This is the first time in the world that the front-end IT needs of the entire public sector of a country are being outsourced.
As things stand now, if indeed the SOE contract winner is announced by the end of this week, the first agency is expected to go live in mid-2009 and all agencies would be fully converted by end-2010.
It remains to be seen if the SOE tender awarding deadline can be met in view of the problems being faced by the One Team consortium.
When asked about the timelines for the SOE, the IDA spokeswoman noted that the SOE project is on schedule for full implementation by 2010.
She added that major SOE implementation milestones have remained unchanged although there were some adjustments to the timeline to take into account the delay in awarding it.
‘In particular, the transition schedule of agencies has been adjusted to ensure that the implementation workload is evenly redistributed. The participating consortia have been consulted in the revision of the schedule.’
Source : Straits Times - 26 Feb 2008
Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest
Mindy Yong
(+65)91002985
mindy@mindyyong.com
Bargain hunting starts in tepid property market »« Unexpected fall in new US jobless claims - WASHINGTON
