Gen-i wins big with Ministry of Justice

Success in two major Ministry of Justice contracts is seen by Gen-i general manager Chris Quin as validation of a five-year strategy to pull together the business solutions units of Telecom and Gen-i.

The contracts, for which Gen-i has been named preferred supplier, are for the supply of telecommunications services and the supply of IT support services. The ministry has declined to put a value on the contracts — it is entering into final negotiations with Gen-i — but suggests the contracts are worth around half of its annual budget of $25 million. Both will run for five years.

“They’ve seen the benefit of our story about doing those things together,” Quin says. He describes the merging of the two business service operations as “the final turn of the wheel in our five year strategy”.

Justice currently has more than a dozen telecommunications and IT services suppliers, a legacy from the 2003 merger of the former Ministry of Justice and the former Department of Courts.

The Ministry says it expects to finalise the contracts in December and to complete the transition to Gen-i by June 2007.

The tender processes began in December 2005. TelstraClear and Datacom are thought to have been the other short-listed parties.

Justice has around 2,400 staff working at 103 locations throughout New Zealand.