Services Australia has entered into a $49.9 million contract with IBM to upgrade the Power Systems servers of its five-year-old OpenStack private cloud server fleet. 

The three-year contract, which began on the 3rd of June and is expected to end on 31 May 2025, will see the agency’s existing server fleet upgraded to the latest technology release from IBM as well as replace the hardware that was previously purchased in 2017. 

This deal is the first major contract Services Australia entered into after its last major contract with IBM for Power servers five years ago. Services Australia previously purchased Power servers through IBM worth $32.6 million. 

IBM Australia was awarded the $50 million contract under its IBM Whole of Government Arrangement, which is currently valued at at least $1.6 billion based on contracts reported under the standing offer notice since 2018.

While Services Australia first disclosed the existence of the private cloud server in March 2018, its details weren’t discussed until last September as it was built on open-source cloud computing infrastructure software OpenStack.

According to the former head of enterprise architecture and now chief data officer Garrett McDonald, the agency had IBM upgrade its private cloud server and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) last year.

These upgrades were made to aid the system in handling vaccination data due to the uncertainty around numbers and how providers would access the application. 

Services Australia also gave IBM $28.5 million in March to upgrade the storage infrastructure in its mainframe environment.

Aside from the deals with IBM, the agency has also upgraded the Microsoft Surface Pros used by its staff through a new $10.5 million contract with ASI Solutions, an Australian IT services provider.

While the agency uses several suppliers for staff computers and accessories, ASI Solutions is a frequent provider as it currently holds multiple contracts with Services Australia.

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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