The Australian Government has signed a US$61 million (AU$96 million) agreement with EDS for the management of technology infrastructure for the the country's Department of Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry.

Under the five-year agreement, EDS will provide desktop, server, storage and architecture services. EDS will manage and provide help and service desk support to approximately 5,000 employees across the department’s 300 locations, as well as provide the overall storage and IT architecture and design services in a multi-vendor agency environment.

“This agreement will help the Australian federal government meet its business and policy objectives and deliver better return on investment to the Australian people,” said David Caspari, managing director for Australia and New Zealand at EDS, an HP company. “It builds on existing services we provide to the government and strengthens EDS’ position as the No. 1 government supplier in the country.”

The contract was signed in March 2009.