The G2018 AoG deal will run for three years.
The Government has signed a new cloud, software and services agreement with Microsoft, replacing the previous G2015 Framework Agreement which expires in September.
The agreement treats Government as a single customer, aggregating current and future agency demand for volume discounts while providing agencies with a transition path to cloud and hybrid deployments, the Department of Internal Affairs announced this week.
G2018 is a cross-government volume licensing agreement that includes subscription-based, perpetual, and cloud services licensing.
The agreement is available through nominated Microsoft Licensing Solution Partners (LSPs) Cyclone Computer, Datacom, Dimension Data, Fujitsu, Insight Enterprises and Spark Digital - the same LSPs who delivered G2015.
Specifically, the agreement covers desktop software licensing for Microsoft Windows operating systems, Microsoft Office and client access licenses as well as enterprise software for Microsoft Windows Server Exchange, SharePoint and SQL Server database and cloud enterprise solutions such as Office 365 and Azure public cloud.
"The new agreement is significantly simplified compared to previous agreements making it easier for agencies to plan, deploy and consume Microsoft technologies," the DIA said.
In addition, the agreement aims to simplify the process by reducing the multiple custom profiles that were available to a limited number of programmatic licenses and online services suites, with additional negotiated use rights, DIA said.
"The enrolment process has also been greatly simplified by moving to digital documents and processing, compared to the highly manual process previously required," the DIA added.
The agreement attracts a lead agency fee payable to DIA of one per cent of the total agencies’ spend which will be used to manage the contract on behalf of all agencies.
The Government chief digital officer will be running workshops about the new agreement for agencies in July in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
The agreement runs for three years with a right to renew for a further three years.
