Infosys wins $80.3 million government contract to modernize procurement
Infosys Public Services (IPS) has been awarded an $80.3 million contract to modernize and automate the procurement processes of Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). IPS will be working with EY and SAP to implement and manage the cloud-based solution.
Rockville, Maryland-based Infosys Public Services (IPS) is a subsidiary of Indian business and IT consulting giant Infosys. IPS provides the North American public sector with business consulting and technology solutions, leveraging over three decades of global government experience. The firm has offices in Toronto, Canada, and Bengaluru, India, in addition to its Maryland headquarters. IPS’ parent company Infosys has a global network of 200,000 employees, and posted US$10 billion in revenues last year.
The public sector-focused consulting firm has been awarded a lucrative $80.3 million contract by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to implement and manage a cloud-based electronic procurement solution. The PSPC is a key provider of services for federal departments and agencies, acting as their central purchasing agent, property manager, treasurer, accountant, pay and pension administrator, integrity advisor, and linguistic authority.
The digital procurement system will be based on SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass, and ServiceNow software, providing a web-based portal for PSPC and its suppliers to access bilingual procurement services and information. The cloud-based platform will allow the government department to procure goods and services through a single portal – with easy access to real-time data and analytics to improve decision-making.
IPS will act as the prime system integrator, implementing the SAP-based solution and setting up a support services network. Meanwhile EY Canada will design and deploy future state processes and enabling technology to support the digitalization initiative. EY will also deliver change management and training support.
If the program is successful, the federal government will decide whether to expand the procurement solution to other departments and agencies. Provincial and municipal organizations will also be offered an opt-in to the platform.
“Navigating their programs and services to a digital future requires organizations to not only identify the right technologies to implement, but also to enable them quickly and at-scale,” said Infosys Public Services CEO Eric Paternoster. “We are honored and excited to have been selected by the Government of Canada to do just this – modernize procurement systems to make it easier for the government and the suppliers to interact, transact, and better serve Canadians.”
SAP Canada Managing Director Andy Canham added, “We look forward to working with IPS in their delivery of an intelligent, collaborative platform for federal procurement to set the standard for the public sector across the country.”
PSPC will be hoping for a smoother digital transformation effort than it has experienced with the malfunctioning Phoenix pay system, which processes payrolls for federal employees. Since its launch in 2016, the digital payroll system has been plagued by problems of underpayments, over-payments, and non-payments. The system was set up by IBM using PeopleSoft software. The current estimate for fixing the program has climbed to a ridiculous $2.2 billion over a projected five years.
