Credit: ID 55578362 © Victor Diola Jr | Dreamstime
Services Australia has granted Forward IT a fresh $8.1 million contract for the provision of more than 3,800 Microsoft Surface Pro devices and Surface laptops for business continuity purposes amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The contract, which runs from April this year to April 2023, was won via a request for quotation procurement process under the Digital Transformation Agency’s (DTA) Hardware Marketplace Panel, which boasts almost 120 suppliers, including Dell, Lenovo and HPE.
The deal sees Forward IT supply 3,471 Surface Pros and 411 Surface laptops to the federal government agency.
The latest contract comes hot on the heels of an earlier order placed by Services Australia for another truckload of Microsoft Surface Pro devices to manage its higher work volume due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The former Department of Human Services tasked Canberra-based IT provider Forward IT to deliver the necessary 3,529 devices as part of a $5.5 million contract.
Although that contract spans from 31 March this year until March 2023, Services Australia said the Surface Pros were needed to “respond to additional workloads” stemming from the crisis, alongside “business continuity”.
That contract win took Services Australia’s tally of Microsoft Surface Pro devices up to more than 6,500 devices ordered in the last month, at a cost of more than $10 million.
Earlier it had ordered 3,000 devices for “business continuity purposes”, using IT provider Ethan Group as the reseller partner for deployment.
