New Deal To Offer SAP Software Services To Government On ‘Most Favourable Terms’
Federal Government departments and agencies will retain access to SAP software, cloud services and professional services on “the most favourable terms available” under a new three-year, $152 million whole-of-government agreement reached with the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).
The deal marks the renewal of a whole-of-government agreement originally set in place with SAP in 2017 with a $42 million price tag. However, it’s estimated that deal, which has covered 297 individual contracts, has delivered business to SAP worth $894 million.
Chris Fechner, Chief Executive Officer of DTA, said the arrangement which commences on 29 June 2024 ensures Commonwealth agencies retain access to SAP products, services and support.
“This provides them with the necessary time to plan their ERP uplift programs, in line with the Government’s recently announced Australian Public Service ERP approach, within the safe and agreed terms of the new arrangement,” he said.
The move was applauded by Angela Colantuono, the President and Managing Director of SAP Australia and New Zealand, who said it represented the continuation of a long-standing relationship between SAP and the Australian Government.
“This arrangement will provide agencies with the ability to modernise the full breadth of their business applications, including in Cloud ERP,” she said. “The arrangement will also enable incremental innovations, including AI.”
The Australian Government’s ICT sourcing website, buyict.gov.au, says the new arrangements will maintain and build on the benefits of the original arrangement, including continued price discounts, modernised and improved terms and conditions, provision for extended maintenance for legacy SAP systems, and flexibility in using and managing premium engagement services.
“The SAP Arrangement allows you to contract with SAP for its products and services on the most favourable terms available to Australian government entities,” the website says.
It will be mandatory for non-corporate Commonwealth entities to contract under the SAP Arrangement when purchasing SAP products and services, and the arrangement is also available to be used by Corporate Commonwealth Entities (CCEs), the High Court and the Future Fund Board of Guardians, and state and territory governments.
The renewal of the SAP Arrangement for a further three years follows the Federal Government’s move in November 2023 to walk back the compulsory GovERP program, which was established by the previous government in an attempt to roll out a standardised SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system across the government’s six shared service hubs.
Finance minister Katy Gallagher announced that GovERP, which comprises an SAP S/4 HANA-based core and a series of bolt-on software-as-a-service “edge” solutions for specific functionality, would be repurposed for use by Services Australia, and would remain available to “any entities that choose to use it”.