The New Zealand Ministry of Social Development has announced the selection of three vendors to supply Software Application Support Services to the Ministry over the next three years.

"Following a tender evaluation process, the Ministry has chosen Hewlett Packard, Fronde and Datacom. These vendors bring specific skills and competencies to support the Ministry's work," said Chief Information Officer Tim Occleshaw.

"The Ministry issued a Request for Information (RFI) in late June 2007 for the $4.8 million Software Application Maintenance Agreement. Vendors who met the RFI qualifying criteria received a Request for Proposal (RFP) in August 2007.

"The successful vendors have long standing relationships with the Ministry and the proposed split of services takes into account the strengths of each provider in contributing to the Ministry's strategic programmes.

"The Ministry will now enter into Contract negotiations with the vendors and we expect to reach an agreement by mid-December," said Tim Occleshaw.