Local enterprise resource planning (ERP) specialists may soon have the opportunity to go big in the public sector, with the Federal Government calling for industry feedback over the proposed establishment of a whole-of-government ERP procurement panel.
The Department of Finance released a position paper on 23 June, aimed at advising the local tech industry of its indicative strategy for establishing the ERP panel and inviting feedback from the industry.
The paper outlines the objectives and methodology for a proposed approach to the market, and roughly covers the type of solutions in scope. It is intended that the panel will be used for commercial off the shelf ERP solutions including support and maintenance.
The broad objective of the approach to market (ATM) is to establish a panel that offers public entities ERP solutions that are cloud based, as either software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS) or scalable public cloud-based services.
The solutions on offer should also be capable of supporting multiple agencies from within a single instance, be able to interface with existing corporate systems, where data exchange is required, regardless of the location or type of system and facilitate self-service wherever possible.
According to tender documents, the ERP solution tendered should also be a system with significant expertise and support offered in Australia and overseas and be able to maintain data on shore in Australia, unless agreed to otherwise.
It should also be modular and easily configured to meet business requirements, and be flexible and scalable enough to allow changes in the future.
“It is highly desirable that solutions be hosted in a cloud environment; however, other hosting options may be considered based on the business needs of agencies,” the tender documents said.
The move to establish a whole-of-government ERP procurement panel is part of the Federal Government’s Shared Services Program.
The Australian Public Service (APS)-wide program is aimed at providing common services across agencies through the development of centres of excellence (hubs) and the transition of agencies into these hubs.
The aims of the program include minimising the number of ERP systems used across the APS, standardising business processes across all of the hubs, and localisation at lower levels where required.
Under the program, business systems and processes are expected to be be standardised across the APS by consolidating service provision from 85 internal service providers into six hubs.
“In order to enhance the benefits to government from the consolidation of corporate services, the Department of Finance (Finance) is looking to establish an ERP panel,” the Department said.
“The focus is on core transactional services…and ERP solutions. This may expand to include additional value-add or strategic services as the program matures,” it said.
According to the Government, the aim of the initiative is to ensure that the APS is “better positioned to respond to the challenges of a rapidly changing environment and tight fiscal circumstances”.
Prospective tenderers are invited to attend an industry briefing from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm on 7 July.
