The Victorian capital, Melbourne
Smaller Victorian partners will soon have an easier time competing for public IT work, with the state government inking a deal with a local company named VendorPanel for a new IT services procurement system.
The deal, which effectively sees VendorPanel take on the management of the government’s eServices Register, is set to be more accommodating to small businesses.
It is also aimed at making it easier, more efficient and less costly for government bodies to access new technologies and e-services.
Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings said all government departments and tech providers will now use the new VendorPanel system for IT services procurement.
VendorPanel was launched in 2010 as a Melbourne technology startup. Its platform is used to manage similar whole-of-government arrangements for the Queensland Government, the ACT Government, and various local governments in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria.
“VendorPanel are a fantastic local company providing local jobs and investment – and now its product will make doing business with the Victorian Government a whole lot easier," Jennings said.
The state government claimed that the VendorPanel e-services platform is particularly conducive to small and medium enterprises and, as such, it will make it easier for external partners to do business with it.
Victorian public entities make about 900 purchases a year on e-services from almost 1,800 providers, including web content management systems, geospatial data services, 3D modelling, IT strategy development and analysis.
It is hoped that the VendorPanel procurement system will simplify how government departments and agencies source their e-services providers.
With the VendorPanel system, suppliers will be able to upload company information and supporting information, such as insurance certificates, at point of registration. This is expected to reduce the regulatory burden of having to provide such information with each individual tender response.
“Victoria’s great tech and e-services sector will find the VendorPanel system more user friendly and efficient – and I’m proud this agreement will be supporting local jobs,” Jennings said.
The new deal comes as the state government awards Deloitte Consulting a $42.8 million, three-year contract for its Service Victoria Systems Integrator Project.
Two additional contracts related to the Service Victoria project have also been awarded, with Amazon Web Services (AWS) being handed a $1.7 million contract for the three-year duration of the program, and Salesforce taking home its own $1.7 million licensing subscription deal.
