Situation

• In 1997, the Government of B.C. decided to outsource a number of information technology services
• Because running a mainframe is not a core government business, MVS processing was included in the decision
• In addition to ongoing management and maintenance, the government wanted thought leadership from its chosen provider

Approach

• The Government issued a call for tenders
• BC Tel, which later merged with TELUS Communications Inc., entered into a unique strategic partnership with IBM Canada to submit a proposal
• The contract was awarded to this partnership in 1998

Business Benefit

• The Government and citizens of B.C. are leveraging an unmatched combination of knowledge, thought leadership and expertise in mainframe architecture and day-to-day management
• The contract ensures that all systems are always up and running and always state-of-the-art
• The Government has been freed to concentrate on governing, with no further need to own and staff a complex IT infrastructure
• Over 50% of costs have been driven out of the environment

Solution

“Running a mainframe isn’t a core government business.” In one sentence, Alan Guilbault explains why, for 8 years, the Government of British Columbia has outsourced management of its MVS mainframe processing services to a partnership between IBM Canada and TELUS.  Guilbault is Director, Hosting Branch, Shared Services BC - Common IT Services (CITS), Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services.

In 1997, the Government of B.C. decided to outsource a number of information technology services. It issued a Request for Proposals that included a call for tenders for outsourced management of MVS processing at its data centre in the capital city of Victoria.

The contract was awarded in 1998 to a strategic partnership between IBM Canada and BC Tel (which later merged with TELUS to become TELUS Communications Inc.). This unique arrangement offered the Government a combination of IBM’s unmatched knowledge and thought leadership in mainframe computing, together with the local presence of TELUS and its expertise in mainframe architecture and day-to-day operational management of mainframe processing.

The Government of B.C.’s MVS mainframe processing services support a wide variety of mission-critical applications. Examples include social welfare payments, revenue and tax collection, the Medical Services Plan’s registration and premium billing system and medical claims system, the Ministry of Finance’s cash flow management system and more.  Most processing occurs during normal business hours, but some online systems must be accessible 24 hours a day and able to process critical batch jobs at night. The government’s contract with the IBM-TELUS partnership ensures the systems are always up and running and always state-of-the-art.

IBM owns the contract and provides thought leadership in mainframe futures and strategies and how the Province can leverage its investments in technology and software. TELUS is responsible for maintaining a robust and stable environment and managing the mainframe and data processing on a daily basis. TELUS also works with IBM and the Government to plan and implement new architecture development, and provides tier-one technical support to end users.

As part of the contract, TELUS took over the Government’s data centre and its people. This freed the Government to concentrate on governing, rather than owning a complex IT infrastructure and attracting and retaining technical resources to manage it. “The real objective was operational stability,” says Guilbault. “The concept of service levels is hugely important and TELUS has consistently met the levels described in the contract.”

By contracting with IBM and TELUS, the Government is able to leverage a synergistic solution that has driven over 50% of the costs out of the environment. More importantly, the relationship is strong. “The second part to any relationship is simply whether you can get along,” says Guildbault. “And in this case, the service relationship has been very positive throughout the 8 year term of the engagement.”

That translates into the most direct benefit of all for IBM and TELUS. Agreement has been reached with the Government of B.C. for a final contract extension in July 2006, for a further 18month term. The contract includes new clauses that protect the privacy of personal information.