For Immediate Release
Harper Government Making Progress on Streamlining Email
Ottawa, Ontario, June 25, 2013 – The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Minister for Status of Women, and Minister responsible for Shared Services Canada (SSC), today announced that Bell Canada, in partnership with CGI Information Systems and Management Consultants Inc., has been selected through a competitive process to deliver the Government of Canada’s new email systems, a major milestone in streamlining the Government’s IT infrastructure.
“Our Government is working to streamline IT, save money, and end waste and duplication,” said Minister Ambrose. “By consolidating its email systems to a single and secure email platform, we anticipate savings of over $50 million a year, beginning in 2015-2016.”
Streamlining email systems will improve Canadians’ access to the delivery of information and services, while lowering the cost of services to Canadians. The Email Transformation Initiative will replace 63 separate systems that are currently used across the Government with one system. The new email system will be implemented by March 2015 and will use up-to-date technology, leading to improved employee productivity.
“In these times of increasing cyber threats, the new system will also build in many layers of security to protect information,” said Minister Ambrose. “In addition, by protecting one system rather than 63 systems, the Government will be able to focus on enhancing security while reducing costs.”
Shared Services Canada was created in August 2011, with the mandate to streamline, consolidate and standardize IT infrastructure services to reduce costs and improve email, data centres and networks across government. Since the launch of SSC, the department has been open to new ways of doing business, seeking innovative approaches in order to deliver the best results possible for Canadians.
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For further information (media only):
Michelle Bakos
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Rona Ambrose
819-997-5421
Media Relations Office
Shared Services Canada
613-947-6276
Media@ssc-spc.gc.ca
@ssc_ca
BACKGROUNDER
Email Transformation Initiative
Contract Award
Following a year of a rigorous Collaborative Procurement Process and after considering the options for an email solution that would meet security requirements and provide value for money, Shared Services Canada (SSC) selected Bell Canada, in partnership with CGI Information Systems and Management Consultants Inc., to implement an email solution for the Government of Canada.
The contract with the vendor is for seven years plus one option year. By consolidating its email systems to a single and secure email platform, the Government of Canada anticipates savings of over $50 million dollars a year, beginning in 2015-2016.
SSC was mandated in 2011 to transform how the Government manages its information technology infrastructure (IT). Its first priority was to move the Department’s 43 partner organizations to a single consolidated, cost-effective, efficient, secure and modern email system.
The Email Transformation Initiative (ETI) will replace the 63 email solutions currently being used by SSC and its partner organizations with a consolidated solution designed to meet their IT needs and support their business requirements.
Industry and Partner Engagement
SSC engaged the IT industry in its collaborative procurement process to gain an understanding of what was available and to produce a highly detailed Request for Proposal (RFP) rooted in the needs of SSC’s partner organizations, along with industry knowledge and experience. The process began on June 12, 2012 with an Industry Engagement Day, followed by a Request for Information. On September 19, 2012, SSC issued a Request for Responses for Evaluation to identify successful respondents with proven track records for designing, implementing and operating an enterprise email solution. The next step in the process started on November 21, 2012, when SSC entered the Review and Refine Requirements phase. This phase gave successful respondents the opportunity to enhance their understanding of ETI requirements.
This process led to issuing the RFP and the opportunity for the four qualified vendors to bid on an email solution for the Government of Canada. The vendors were:BellCanada, DellCanada, HP Canada and IBM Canada.
