A five-year upgrade of Victoria Police's computer systems, originally expected to be completed for about $150 million, now appears set to cost taxpayers at least $210 million.

The IT outsourcing project has also been hit by a dispute between the police and the information technology giant IBM Global Services Australia, which was awarded the contract for the job in February, 1999.

IBM GSA is a division of IBM worldwide and a joint venture between IBM, Telstra and Lend Lease. The company was contracted to upgrade computer technology in about 400 police stations and complexes across the state. It was to provide a new operating system and e-mail service and to deploy and refresh 7000 PCs, servers and notebook computers.

Under the contract, IBM GSA is also to manage Victoria Police's mainframe data centre and provide specialised training for 8000 staff. The project effectively envelops the police force's entire crime-fighting computer operations.

The director of the Victoria Police's Information Management Department, Peter Breadmore, declined to comment on specific costs relating to the project this week.

But sources have told The Sunday Age that the final cost of the project is now anticipated to be more than $210 million. "It's a mess," said one source, adding that the contract had been accepted under pressure to undertake urgent Y2K "millennium bug" work and, as a consequence of the haste, costs had remained hidden at the time.

Final cost estimates reported in the media have risen steadily from $150 million up to $200 million since details of the project were made public. In a statement, Mr Breadmore said the project was a rates-based one and it was always envisaged that costs would rise during its five years. He cited Y2K measures, increased demands for computer memory, increased Operation department demands and the provision of Internet services for additional staff as changeable cost factors.

Mr Breadmore confirmed that the Victoria Police and IBM GSA were in dispute. He said the matter was being managed by contract specialists representing both parties. It is believed that the dispute is over software licensing and technology replacement issues valued at more than $10 million.

Mr Breadmore said he expected the dispute to be satisfactorily resolved and he denied that the company had threatened legal action. "There has been no threat from IBM," he said.

A spokeswoman for IBM GSA declined to comment beyond saying the company remained committed to excellence in the delivery of services.

The project is set to run until February, 2004, but it is understood that the police can extend the contract for up to two years and that notice of whether or not it will be extended needs to be given early next year.

When it was announced in 1999, the project was described as providing Victoria Police with "the latest technology and access to information statewide to combat crime". "The upgrade will see on-duty officers equipped with laptop computers, to alleviate the need for time-consuming paper work," the announcement said.

According to details of government contracts published by the State Government, Victoria Police also spent $3.1 million in the last financial year on maintenance and development of software for its LEAP computer system.

Seven years ago, The Age revealed that Victoria Police's then computer system had run tens of millions of dollars over budget, was vulnerable to security breaches and faced being scrapped.

The Age

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