Tax office signs Change deal with IBM

IBM will provide technology-based mid-range software and services to assist the ATO in its Change Program. IBM will also be assisting the ATO in replacing and modernising its existing tax business systems.

IBM middleware software will be used to support the Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) to enable the ATO's Change Program. The SOA is designed to interconnect and integrate the ATO's Web-based systems, commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) and legacy applications to encourage more customers to meet their tax responsibilities online. This is expected to reduce administration costs for ATO customers.

"IBM will provide the Australian Taxation Office with a more integrated software environment to allow the new tax applications to be developed on the mainframe platform. This will ensure a more reliable and durable processing environment for the implementation of the Change Program," said Tony Best, IBM Australia general manager for public sector.

IBM will provide WebSphere enterprise messaging and workflow technology to support the business processing needs of ATO employees and systems. The IBM DB2 range of document, content and records management software will automate information management and archiving.

IBM said that "by simplifying the data management process within the ATO, customers will benefit from simplified access to their online electronic account information."