Buddle Findlay is delighted to have supported the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in agreeing a cloud framework agreement with TechnologyOne Limited that will allow government agencies to access TechnologyOne's software-as-a-service (SaaS) financial management information systems (FMIS). This cloud framework agreement was specifically designed to allow agencies to transition as easily as possible from existing TechnologyOne on-premise solutions to the equivalent cloud services. As a result this transaction has balanced ensuring access to TechnologyOne's cloud services, while complying with New Zealand legislation, government-specific obligations, and government's policies. In particular, as the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 came into force in only December 2020, a focus has been on ensuring agencies can comply with new obligations in that Act when transferring potentially sensitive personal information offshore.
Partner Renee Stiles headed the Buddle Findlay team, working alongside MBIE's Finance Systems, Control and Procurement team, to negotiate the terms of the agreement, including liaison with a cross-government governance group (consisting of key agencies who wish to transition to TechnologyOne's cloud services). Renee was supported by a number of experts across the firm's ICT and procurement team, including partner Amy Ryburn, special counsel Damien Steel-Baker and data privacy expert Alex Chapman.
Michael Alp, General Manager Finance Systems, Control and Procurement at MBIE says “we are very excited to see this new cloud framework agreement in place which will see a large number of Government agencies realise a considerable number time, cost and efficiency benefits. The strong and pragmatic focus of Buddle Findlay in partnering to develop the agreements ensured an excellent outcome for all our stakeholders.”
To find out more about how Buddle Findlay can work with you and your organisation to successfully deliver your ICT projects, please review our TMT, privacy and data protection, commercial and other expertise pages, or contact Renee direct. You can also subscribe to Buddle Findlay's legal updates to receive timely content on legislative developments, topical articles and case summaries.
