Project owner | Secretariat-General for Information Systems and Digital Governance |
Project operator | Ministry of Digital Governance |
Budget | €47,079,994.35 (exclusive of VAT) |
What is the object of the project?
In accordance with Article 28(3)(l) of Law 4623/2019 (Government Gazette, Series I, No 134), the Secretariat-General for Information Systems and Digital Governance of the Ministry of Digital Governance has the responsibility to plan actions for, and ensure, the centralised management of commercial software licenses for all public sector bodies, by entering into centralised government agreements with the companies providing such software, in order to save funds and ensure an economy of scale, with regard to the cost of acquisition and maintenance of such software.
In this context, the object of the project consists in: Covering the needs of Public Administration in terms of software licenses that are widely used by it, which are intended to support a number of its processes, such as:
- Management of office applications.
- Management and use of email services.
- Management and use of real-time collaboration tools.
- Management and use of document management and business process management applications.
- Project management.
The software licenses to support the above-described processes will be procured by entering into an Enterprise Agreement.
What are the purpose and objectives of the project?
Thanks to this project, the Public Administration, through the Ministry of Digital Governance, will be able to procure licenses and maintain existing software products (Software Assurance following the contract for the ‘Procurement of Software Licenses on the basis of an Enterprise Agreement’ for the period 2021-2023) and to acquire the additional necessary new Microsoft software licenses on the basis of the Enterprise Agreement, in order to support its extremely important and fundamental functions referred to above.
The quantities of software licenses were determined after the Secretariat-General for Information Systems and Digital Governance identified and pooled together the needs of significant public sector bodies, including ministries, supervised bodies, regions, municipalities and independent authorities. Account was also taken of the needs that have already arisen from requests placed by public sector bodies to have their information systems hosted by the Government Cloud infrastructure of the Secretariat-General for Information Systems and Digital Governance, as well as of future hosting needs to arise in 2024.
What are the expected benefits of the project?
The project consists in choosing the optimal techno-economic solution for the acquisition and use of software from specific manufacturers for a number of reasons, such as:
- Lower acquisition costs and total cost of ownership (TCO). According to international practices, as far as specific cost centres are concerned, entering into an Enterprise Agreement is the most cost-effective way to procure software, compared to software procurement on an individual basis. The use of one single technological platform (which is feasible as it will be possible to use the latest or the same version of each software product) for all computers, leads to a significant reduction in overall acquisition and maintenance costs and an increase in productivity and interoperability. At the same time, it aims to ensure the maximum possible levels of security, speed and reliability, as well as better management of Public Administration IT resources (horizontal communication, remote management, etc.), which is a major objective of the Ministry of Digital Governance and of the Secretariat-General for Information Systems and Digital Governance.
- Uninterrupted access to new versions of software products. The Enterprise Agreement will ensure access to all the latest versions of the products covered by it. During the term of the Agreement, the Secretariat-General for Information Systems and Digital Governance will receive online the products covered by the agreement and their latest versions. Upon expiry of the Agreement, the licenses for the latest versions (except where licensing also covers the provision of a service) will belong to the Ministry of Digital Governance. Please note that these licences, unlike under other methods of supply, such as OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), will remain valid even if the equipment is replaced with new equipment.
- Simplified monitoring of software licenses. During the term of the Agreement, it will be easy for the Secretariat-General for Information Systems and Digital Governance to carry out central monitoring of the software licences, of their various versions, of the licence certificates, etc. In addition to that, where the need arises to install software on new computers, it will be able to do so immediately, while registering the new computers on the next annual anniversary of the Agreement.
- Fixed product price in the event of acquisition of new licenses. Whenever a new order needs to be placed during the project, in addition to the original quantity, it will be subject to fixed prices during the term of the Enterprise Agreement, as the latter provides price protection throughout its term for all the products already included therein, as well as for those to be added during the project.
- Easy payments and cash flows, as the costs are spread over the term of the Agreement.
- Software standardisation: This Agreement is designed to help create a flexible software infrastructure environment, to allow the Public Administration to respond to the ever-changing business needs, with a view increasing effectiveness and reducing IT costs.