The purpose of this circular is to advise agencies that the corporate services IT freeze has been lifted and that new arrangements have been put in place to assist with planning corporate services projects involving new or upgraded IT infrastructure.

Treasury's Budget Allocations letter dated 6 April 1998 advised all Chief Executives of a freeze on corporate services IT projects. The Budget Committee of Cabinet endorsed the freeze to encourage agencies to consider other options, including sharing and/or hosting, prior to committing to the purchase of new or upgraded IT products for corporate services functions.

The cases submitted since April this year by agencies seeking exemption from the freeze have highlighted some common problems in the planning of corporate

services IT projects:

• there is a tendency for corporate services project teams to be quite insular and not factor liaison with appropriate internal and external stakeholders into their project plans;
• some agencies are not well enough informed about the Government Selected Applications System (GSAS) and currently available products; agencies do not always research similar projects undertaken by other agencies and therefore useful experiences are not shared; and options such as sharing and hosting are often not considered as a legitimate option before locking into an agency-specific solution.

To reduce the incidence of these generic problems and assist agencies in considering all relevant factors when planning for corporate services IT projects, agencies are required from now on to make contact with the Corporate Services Reform Team as soon as such a project is envisaged. Corporate Services Reform Team staff will assist agencies by providing advice on options such as sharing or hosting; information on whole of government initiatives; contacts in other agencies that have undertaken similar projects; and general assistance in considering how to approach such projects. Liaising early with Corporate Services Reform Team will assist project teams with their planning and should generate improved outcomes for agencies.

The requirement to contact the CSR Team at the initial planning stage replaces the freeze on corporate services IT projects, which is lifted with effect from the date of this circular. However, Chief Executives should note that the Corporate Services Reform Team works closely with the Office of Information Technology and the Treasury on the corporate services reform initiative. In keeping with this, the Office of Information Technology seeks the advice of the Corporate Services Reform Team on all corporate services IT projects submitted for funding.

Director-General

Secretary
The Treasury