CASE STUDY Project description The Chief Information Officer Group is responsible for ensuring that Defence has a dependable, secure and integrated ICT environment that supports Defence business and military operations. The Chief Information Officer Group delivers a complex range of commercial, government, specialist military and bespoke applications. These systems operate across geographically dispersed, fixed, deployable and mobile networks. The work performed by Proximity included: Software licensing Proximity reviewed and negotiated dozens of software licences and maintenance agreements (for both new procurements and extensions). These included mission critical, multi-million dollar contracts and low-value transactional end user licence agreements. Proximity advised on contracts for: > Traditional desktop applications > Thin-client streamed applications > Enterprise server software > Cloud software as a service. The process regularly included conducting liability risk assessments (to determine liability and insurance levels and to inform the delegate s procurement risk decisions), advising on the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and other procurement policy, advising on internal delegate approval documentation and advising on commercial arrangements (including KPIs, guarantees, step-in rights and milestone payments). ICT projects Proximity provided advice in relation to the Department s next generation desktop project. This included advice on legal issues associated with transitioning software applications from a traditional thick-client deployment to a virtualised thin-client deployment, and the associated issues including software application pricing models and licence restrictions. Given the large number of software 1
applications to be transitioned, Proximity designed a legal process to enable the efficient review of licences including a traffic light system that could be used by the executive and the technical team to obtain a quick picture of the licence issues to be managed to ensure compliance. Proximity also provided advice to: > The Centralised Processing project in relation to the provisions to be included in contracts that may be novated to the Commonwealth > An emerging big data project in relation to its procurement strategy > A major employee information system project on its Privacy Impact Assessment. Satellite Proximity provided advice on the upgrade of deployable satellite terminals. The contract was based on the SourceIT template and included the supply of equipment, installation and training. Proximity assisted with the procurement of satellite service from Inmarsat including both legacy services and next generation services (including anchoring and backhaul) under both dial-on-demand and leased service arrangement. The contract was under the Australian Government Telecommunications Agreement (AGTA) framework. Other Proximity provided legal advice and technical writing to develop a new policy regarding the use of ICT resources by employees. The policy needed to allow for reasonable personal use of ICT resources by employees while ensuring that the use was appropriate for a professional workplace. Relevant legislation that was considered included the Privacy Act, Telecommunications Interception and Access Act and the Archives Act. Proximity drafted data protection arrangements and non-disclosure agreements for the disclose of sensitive information, provided advice on intellectual property management and drafted a template product trial agreement. Proximity provided legal and commercial advice on a broad range of other issues including contract termination, RFT cancellation, data centre leases, security breaches and the PGPA Act. In addition to providing legal and commercial advice, Proximity was also the lead negotiator for a number of projects and agreements. 2
Client Involvement Approach Date Key Personnel Lessons and Achievements Department of Defence Chief Information Officer Group (public sector) Proximity was engaged as part of the outposted legal team. Proximity played a fundamental part in the team and was the lead for significant elements of the work. Sean King assisted the Chief Information Officer Group for more than12 months. The Chief Information Officer Group had not previously had such direct access to legal assistance. Sean played a major role in developing the in-house legal team, including by training and mentoring in-house staff through sharing his knowledge of ICT law. When the outposted team commenced at CIOG there was an overwhelming amount of work. Proximity s approach was to prioritise projects based on risk and value and direct resources to the areas of greatest need. Proximity also helped to develop systems and processes to allow the work to be completed more efficiently. This included developing template agreements, developing EULA review request sheets to ensure that all of the necessary information was collated before sending for legal review and presenting sessions on the role of the legal team. November 2013 to July 2015 Sean King The assistance resulted in the following achievements: The first major software as a service procurement to be undertaken by the Chief Information Officer Group The licensing out of an in-house developed software application to third parties (unique for an organisation that is typically a consumer rather than a distributor) A successful compliance program in relation to the use of open source software Negotiating more favourable deals for a wide range of software applications (including office productivity, editing, storage, anti-virus, backup, printing, database and military specific) Training staff on software licences including the pricing models such as enterprise, device, processor, instance, user and output. 3
Referee Significance Felicity Stewart Director DIGAA Previously Special Counsel (CIOG) felicity.stweart@defence.gov.au The Chief Information Officer Group plays a huge role in enabling Defence to achieve its objectives. This role is only expanding in a world where access to information and technology will increasingly be the deciding factor in military success. The role was particularly significant given that the Chief Information Officer Group was undertaking one of its most ambitious reform agendas, with many large projects being undertaken simultaneously in order to modernise Defence s ICT environment. The role was also significant because Defence was building its first outposted legal team to deliver assistance to the Chief Information Officer Group. 4
Contact us Sean King Director Proximity Canberra M 0408 167 542 P (02) 6126 5950 E sean.king@proximity.com.au W proximity.com.au James Dunn Director Proximity Canberra M 0407 888 894 P (02) 6126 5950 E james.dunn@proximity.com.au W proximity.com.au 5