Defence signs up for IBM servers

The Department of Defence has entered into a standing offer with IBM for the purchase of x86 servers and services.

The agreement, which was signed in March, will run for two years, with an option to extend for four years. A standing offer allows the buyer to purchase products at a predetermined price for a certain period of time.

IBM professional services would help with the provisioning, building, installation and migration of servers as well as disposing them at the end of their life. It will also provide maintenance for the existing server fleet and will train Defence personnel on IBM System x servers and its hardware management toolset IBM Systems Director.

The plan was to consolidate the Department's server fleet over the term of the agreement, IBM said, helping to achieve the Defence's goal in the White Paper of more efficient and cheaper IT.

"Today's public sector environment needs smarter servers for a more dynamic infrastructure — one that can lower ownership costs with higher performance, simplify management and increase utilisation, and enable new paradigms such as cloud computing," IBM's Defence and National Security general manager Murray Bruce said in a statement.

The relevant tender had been released in 2007, according to IBM, leaving a considerable time before it was signed.

The Department of Defence had at the time of publication not yet responded to queries on the estimated annual spend for the standing agreement.