Unisys launches IT support desk for NSW government agencies

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news Global IT provider Unisys has launched a new service desk that will provide centralised IT support services to NSW Government departments and agencies under the GovConnectNSW banner.

Dominic Perrottet, Minister for Finance, Services and Property, officially opened the new facility, which is based in Rhodes, Sydney, on Friday, 11 March.

In June 2015, Unisys and the state government inked a six-year deal to provide IT services for clients of its in-house shared services provider, ServiceFirst, in a move designed to improve productivity for government departments and agencies.

As a result, Unisys has created and filled 128 new positions to support GovConnectNSW, with almost 90% being based in NSW.

Welcoming the launch Tony Windever, Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Solutions, Unisys Asia-Pacific said: “We worked with the government to design a solution that kept the vast majority of jobs in NSW and have attracted a smart and enthusiastic workforce for the engagement based here in Rhodes and across the state.”

The firm said that efficiencies have already been achieved since the service desk went live in December of last year.

While the number of calls to the service desk in January 2016 were up 29% compared to the same month in 2015, calls were answered within a third of the time (50 seconds vs 152 seconds) and the number of missed calls fell by two thirds, according to Unisys figures.

The GovConnectNSW service desk provides a centralised point of contact for IT and field services, delivered by Unisys, alongside SAP support, payroll, finance, HR and procurement-related services provided by Infosys.

The IT firm said the service desk was sent live on schedule in December 2015, as it assumed management of the legacy systems.

Via the desk, Unisys supports seven so-called “foundation” agencies – including the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation; the Department of Premier and Cabinet; and The Treasury – and supports a total of 24 agencies across the NSW government when associated beneficiary agencies are included.

Unisys said it has now also begun a transformation program that will move the client agencies over to a “consumption-based model”, running on its own systems in the new facility.

The company works with government clients across the globe and, in Australia, supports federal and state government departments and agencies including the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, the National Audit Office, the Department of Defence, and others.

Unisys announced just this week that it has signed a two-year contract extension, worth around $74m, to provide IT support for approximately 450 Department of Defence sites across Australia.

Image credit: Dane Munro, royalty free