The Australian Government is accelerating its bid to transform into one of the world’s top three digital governments by 2025, signing a three-year agreement with Microsoft Australia that will streamline cloud access for 98 federal agencies.
This agreement also creates new opportunities for digital skills development, inclusive workplaces and Microsoft partners working with the Australian Government.
The new volume sourcing agreement negotiated through the Digital Transformation Agency, makes Microsoft 365 available to all Federal Government agencies on a cost-effective basis, and opens the door to accelerated adoption of Microsoft Azure and Dynamics 365. Less than two percent of the Commonwealth will remain on legacy on-premise desktop licenses.
The new agreement is the first whole-of-government deal to conform with the Australian accessible procurement standard, creating opportunities for more inclusive workplaces across the public sector.
The impact for Microsoft’s 10,000 local partners – the vast majority of them Australian businesses which between them employ 300,000 people – will be profound. This agreement will make it much simpler for them to do business with government agencies, while local independent software vendors will have streamlined access to Microsoft platforms as the basis to develop and deploy transformative solutions for the public sector.
This agreement will help accelerate agencies’ ability to develop and deploy new cloud-based digital services, injecting fresh efficiency and agility across the Commonwealth. It also enables Government to take full advantage of the very significant investments Microsoft has made in Australia over the last two years, particularly the highly secure and resilient Canberra based Azure cloud, developed specifically for critical national computing applications.
An additional important component of the relationship is Microsoft’s commitment to work with Government to upskill public sector personnel, equipping them with the digital skills and experience needed to successfully deploy cloud-based solutions while helping to future-proof their careers. More than 1,400 subsidised Azure training places will be made available to Australian Government IT workers and there is funding to support up to 100 new trainees in the ACT over the next two years.
