The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has extended its desktop services and biometric identity authentication contracts with Unisys.
The desktop services contract has been extended through to June 2013, the value of which is estimated at around $50 million. Part of the contract involves the provision of the virtualisation of the IT infrastructure supporting the DIAC’s national office.
The biometric identity authentication solutions contract has been extended until August 2010, and is worth approximately $3 million
Unisys Asia-Pacific VP of global outsourcing and infrastructure, Tony Henshaw, said the two contract extensions reflect how closely the two organisations have worked to achieve some of the objectives set by the Gershon review.
“Better IT support allows DIAC personnel to focus on managing the needs of people visiting or seeking to settle in Australia, and the movement of refugees into Australian territory,” Henshaw said in a statement.
The Unisys desktop outsourcing contract began in 2007 and covers selected end-user computing services including service desk operations, business support services and applications support as well as secure email and internet services.
Unisys currently provides services for approximately more than 7000 DIAC staff nationally, as well as staff in more than 60 locations overseas.
Unisys has recorded that DIAC handles approximately 175,000 calls as part of more than 200,000 total contacts per year.
The original biometric-identity authentication solutions contract, which began in 2006, sees Unisys supply systems to help immigration officials authenticate identity through facial images and fingerprinting.