MEDIA RELEASE

ACS to Hypothesise Federal IT Outsourcing Plans

Friday 16 May 1997, Canberra - The pros and cons of the Federal Government’s plans to outsource IT will be the focus of a ‘Hypothetical’-style presentation by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) in Canberra next week.

A panel of IT industry experts will explore a range of problems confronting managers and staff contemplating outsourcing at the 'Outsourcing Hypothetical' on Wednesday, 21 May.

Topics to be considered include: Will this really deliver the efficiencies expected? What exactly should be outsourced? All of it? Maintenance? New development? Support? What should the selection criteria be for an outsourcer, and what controls should be built into the outsourcing agreement? How will the Department measure the effectiveness of the arrangement, and when is the best time to do that?

The panel of experts have been taken from professional industry associations, corporate and quality management, IT audit and process improvement bodies. They will be led by a moderator with extensive experience in Government IT outsourcing.

The ACS will use the results of the hypothetical to prepare advice to members in implementing outsourcing and for submissions to Parliament on the outsourcing issue.

ACS President, Tom Worthington, raised concerns over public sector outsourcing in an address to the National Press Club in December last year.

"We are aware of many potential pitfalls for our members, who will have major roles to play both in providing outsourcing services and in selecting outsourcing companies from within government agencies," said Mr Worthington.

"The aim is to deal with some of these problems during the Hypothetical to assist members and others in avoiding them in reality."

Mr Worthington has invited members of the Finance and Public Administration Senate Committee to attend the event, as it considers a proposal for a new enquiry specifically into IT outsourcing.

The 'Outsourcing Hypothetical' will be held by the Canberra Branch of the Australian Computer Society on Wednesday, 21 May 1997 at 6.00 pm at Room N101, Computer Science and Information Technology Building (Building 108), North Road, Australian National University.

The event is a joint meeting with the Canberra Branch of the ACS and the Software Quality Association (SQA). Non-members of ACS & SQA who wish to attend should see: http://www.pcug.org.au/~afreeman/acs.html, e-mail: mmorgan@acslink.net.au or call Meryl Morgan on (06) 247 4830.

This media release is available on-line at http://www.acs.org.au/news/hypothet.htm