Queensland government to outsource IT services

Date
    June 7, 2013


At least 1700 public sector IT jobs will go in the next two years, the Queensland government's $5.2 million IT audit has identified.      

Those job losses will come from CITEC, which employs 500 staff, and the Shared Services area, which employs 1200 staff.

Queensland Information Technology Minister Ian Walker rejected suggestions the entire $7 billion IT component of the state government would be outsourced.


However he could not give an approximate figure or proportion of the 5000 government IT staff members that would remain in the $7.4 billion IT service provided by government.

"We are going to have to make a business decision on a case by case basis on how we move to IT as a service," he said.

"And it is only as we make each of those decisions that we will be able to make those determinations."

"The government's policy is certainly towards acquiring IT as a service and that means jobs from the private sector providing that service."

He explained the government's position by saying the IT audit had accepted the three broad principles of the Costello Commission of Audit of the state’s finances.

"That means to move away from running our own IT services to one in which we acquire our IT as a service," Mr Walker said.

The change will include freeing government departments from having to use the government's shared services division and allowing contracts from the private sector.

CITEC must be totally outsourced within two years.

The outsourcing is in response to an audit of the government's ICT systems.

Labor's spokesman on information communications technology Tim Mulherin said the release of the report showed a further 5000 workers’ jobs were in doubt.

“In a week where he’s added $600 to household bills and massively hiked taxes, now it seems he’s going to sack more workers,’’ he said.    

Mr Mulherin questioned whether the IT positions now in doubt were identified in last year's budget, which outlined redundancies in each department.

“Before the election, [Premier] Campbell Newman told workers they were safe, then he sacked 14,000 of them,’’ he said.      

“After sacking 14,000 workers, he then said there’d be no more job losses.      

“Now another 5,000 are on the chopping block.’’

Mr Walker said the government would adopt almost all of the IT audit report's 60 recommendations.

Savings have also been identified.

These include $9 million from cancelling mobile phone and fixed phone services that are no longer needed.

Shifting services to be delivered only by Internet could save up to $20 million per year, while shifting to a ‘‘cloud’’ based email service could save up to $17 million a year.

Decommissioning old computer systems could save $10 million a year, while moving away from the outdated Travel Management System could save $9 million.

Consolidating the number of printers could save $3 million and better using mobile data plans could save $4 million.

All these recommendations have been accepted.

The state government spends $1.6 billion each year on information technology.

That includes $1 billion on buying IT products and services and $600 million on IT staff wages and contracts.

The audit found the government’s model of  building, owning and maintaining IT systems was "out of date", with several in-house systems close to the end of their life.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/it-pro/government-it/queensland-government-to-outsource-it-services-20130607-2nuac.html#ixzz2Vfri7IB8

Most of the sacked workers will get work in the companies that pick up the govt contracts.
So that means Queenslanders have paid big dollars for the separation packages and now they will pay for private companies to make huge profits as well as for the salaries of employees Newman got rid of.
Economics moron style 

Mass sackings and a decade long recession..Abbotts brave new world 

Maqqa wrote on Jun 9^th, 2013 at 12:18pm:


so you are not concerned about the lies?

adelcrow wrote on Jun 9^th, 2013 at 4:43pm:


he's had his head buried for the past 5 yrs ..... the sound you are hearing is that of his brain rusting solid.

Maqqa wrote on Jun 9^th, 2013 at 6:46pm:


how so? how does what I say about labor in any way excuse your hypocrisy and double standards?

Maqqa wrote on Jun 9^th, 2013 at 6:52pm:


Macca relates well with the inteligent conservatives oxymoron.

Maqqa wrote on Jun 9^th, 2013 at 6:52pm:


But we weren't the ones using 'she lied she lied ... you were ... why does it suddenly not matter that he lied? It's astonishing the hypocrisy displayed by you, and to top it all of, you try to justify it based on what others say? What others say is in no way relevant to what you say ... keep burying your head  ... but first you need to pull it out of your ar$e.