Simon Watt (Area9)
Area9 has won a 10-year contract to provide the Northern Territory Government’s first ever co-location service outside of its own turf.
The $7 million deal will see Area9 house back-up services for the State Government’s network within the local operator Secure Data Centre (SDC).
According to Area9 director Simon Watt, the Darwin-based provider faced competition from national players in bidding for the project.
“We’re delighted to have signed this important agreement with the Government of the Northern Territory,” he said.
“This contract recognises Area9’s capability as a leading Territory IT service provider, the Secure Data Centres’ exceptional facility and encapsulates an important commitment from the Northern Territory Government in terms of partnering with the private sector.”
Founded in 2007, Area9 provides technology-as-a-service either through its cloud hosting data centre or onsite infrastructure for commercial and public organisations.
It counts data back-up and disaster recovery vendor Veeam among its vendor partners, alongside, Microsoft, HP, Adobe, Citrix, VMware, Cisco, D-Link and Atlassian.
The NT Government's back-up computing will transfer to Area9 immediately in preparation for its move to a new primary data centre in the Darwin suburb of Milliner.
The move follows the NT Government’s decision to demolish its existing data centre, known as the Chan building, as part of a $100 million project to revitalise Darwin’s CBD.
At the moment, the Chan building houses the Government’s NTG’s IT systems and services, including business systems, email and phone services and internet presence.
Most of the computing equipment and services from Chan are being transferred to the new Millner site over a two-year period.
“This will position the Government's computing in a robust, contemporary model and will benefit two local Territory businesses through a secure, long term contract,” Minister for Corporate and Information Services Lauren Moss said.
“Local IT industry benefits from government ICT contracts with DCIS. This new contract will put more services into the local market.”
