Buying products and services
What government agencies need to know about Common Capabilities ICT and buying products and services.
C3 (Common Capabilities and Cloud) Programme
The Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Telecommunications as a Service (TaaS) Common Capability agreements expire in late 2026.
Their replacements are currently being developed by the C3 Programme.
For more information visit C3 (Common Capabilities and Cloud) Programme.
Description
A Common Capability ICT (CC-ICT) is any technology that can be used by 1 or more agencies, or across all-of-government, to support business outcomes.
The lead agency takes responsibility for procurement and contract maintenance, allowing your agency to focus on service delivery.
Common Capabilities developed for all-of-government are listed in the Products and Services A–Z.
Benefits
Common Capabilities ICT allows agencies to share ICT investment, pool resources and move to a shared set of standards.
Leveraging the scale of government agencies as a single customer avoids the need for agencies to undertake their own full-scale procurement process.
Benefits to agencies of adopting Common Capabilities ICT:
- reduces duplicated investments
- reduces costs across government through economies of scale
- leads to shared ICT costs
- helps individual agencies run efficient ICT systems
- removes the need to maintain multiple versions of similar technologies
- allows agencies to focus on creating better public services, improving service delivery
- removes the need for each agency to tender services
- enables a citizen-centric approach to government services by requiring agencies to work from the same standards, and
- creates a common level of security.
Eligible agencies
All agencies in the public sector are eligible and encouraged to use a whole of government approach to procurement.
Mandated and Eligible agencies - Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
This includes any other organisation, agency or group which the Centre of Expertise or lead agency, and the procurement system leader determines to be eligible.
ICT System Leadership mandated requirements
Agencies within the scope of the ICT System Leadership mandate and who submit Four-Year Plans to Treasury, are required to outline their plans to adopt Common Capabilities ICT.
The ICT System Leadership mandate applies to:
- public service departments
- non-public service departments.
It also applies to the following Crown entities:
- Accident Compensation Corporation
- Natural Hazards Commission
- Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities (formerly Housing New Zealand Corporation)
- New Zealand Qualifications Authority
- New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
- New Zealand Transport Agency
- Tertiary Education Commission.
NZ’s central government organisations – Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission
Exemptions
When your agency’s specific requirements mean existing Common Capabilities ICT are unsuitable, contact the GCDO. In most cases there’ll be an opportunity to enhance existing service catalogues.
Prioritising Common Capabilities ICT
Multiple agencies with common investment needs inform the development and prioritisation of Common Capabilities ICT.
Actions in the Government ICT Strategy and Action Plan to 2017 are also reviewed each year to ensure the Common Capabilities ICT are prioritised.
Common Capability ICT timelines
The Government ICT Strategy and supporting work programme sets the direction for all Common Capabilities ICT.
The time it takes to develop Common Capabilities ICT depends on:
- simplification of complex ICT service catalogues
- collaboration with multiple agencies to co-design and develop requirements, and
- a comprehensive procurement process.
If your agency needs something urgently that’s still in the development phase, contact GCDO to discuss your requirements.
If the CC-ICT you need hasn’t made it to the project stage, talk to us about who else may have the same requirements. It’s possible that your requirement could turn into a project that will develop the capacity you need.
How to get involved in a Common Capability ICT project
Government agencies collaborate to co-design and develop products and services. This helps to shape the scope and direction of Common Capabilities ICT.
If your agency would like to get involved or lead a project, contact gcdo@dia.govt.nz. They will put you in touch with the lead agency and help you get started.
The GCDO can assist your agency develop common market requirements and engage with reference groups to identify common attributes that will benefit other agencies.
How to adopt an Common Capability ICT
Choose the service you require from the Products and Services A–Z.
Contact the agency contact or your AoG Shared Capability Account Executive. They will provide you with specific guidance and talk you through the secondary procurement process.
We may discuss your business requirements, operating model, security requirements and available resources.
The secondary procurement process
The secondary procurement process is the way an agency selects a vendor from an existing panel.
- Contact the Agency Contact for the Common Capability ICT products or services you require.
- Sign a standard confidentiality agreement so all vendor catalogues can be released.
- Select a vendor based on your business requirements.
- Sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) as Lead Agency. This MoU sets out each party’s rights and obligations.
- Sign an agreement with the preferred supplier.
- Once all agreements are agreed the supplier will transition the service.
The requirements selection process depends on the Common Capability being implemented, contact the Agency Contact listed for that capability for more detail.
Administration fee
The administration fee is used to cover the Lead Agency expenses for developing, procuring, managing and reviewing Common Capabilities services.
The administration fee is 1.75% across all Common Capabilities services and is cost-recovery only.
Transition support, contract renewals and renegotiations
DIA as lead agency manage the product portfolio and contracts for all-of-government Common Capabilities ICT.
When membership of a vendor panel changes, we will provide your agency with transition planning support and advice.
Access to preferred suppliers
If you have a preferred supplier, refer them to the Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS) website. All open tenders are advertised through GETS.
Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS)
Utility links and page information
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