Oracle Consulting wins $67m WA deal

Oracle Consulting has won a $67 million, 10-year contract to help deliver a shared corporate services project to the Western Australia government.

Oracle Consulting has won a $67 million, 10-year contract to help deliver a shared corporate services project to the Western Australia government.

Oracle Australia has signed a contract with the state government to help facilitate a shared corporate services project that aims to save WA taxpayers $50 million a year. Oracle Consulting was leading the implementation but was subcontracting to Perth IT provider ASG, an Oracle spokesperson said.

As part of the deal, the WA government had also bought various Oracle software products -- including Oracle E-Business Suite 11i and Oracle Database 10g on Oracle Real Application Clusters with Oracle Application Server 10g, he said.

Eric Ripper, the WA Treasurer, said in a statement the signing was a milestone in the government's Shared Corporate Services Project, which would see some 100 government agencies consolidate their back-office functions into three shared service centres.

"The Gallop Government is committed to cutting waste, duplication and inefficiency at every opportunity," Ripper said. "The signing of this contract is a major achievement in delivering a more efficient, cost-effective public sector."

Under the 10-year contract, worth $66.8million, software systems supplied by Oracle Corporation would help shape how the shared service centres delivered services to their client agencies.

Currently, many of some 21 different financial management and 12 payroll systems in the largest 49 agencies were incompatible, the government said.

Three corporate service centres would let government departments pool resources in the areas of buying and financial and human resource management. The project was expected to deliver savings of $50 million a year by 2007 or 2008, the government said.

 "The introduction of this new software will deliver savings through reducing duplication and improving efficiency, while enabling agencies to focus on their core functions," Ripper said. Also, two other shared service centres would be established specifically for the needs of Education and Training and Health, the government said.