The IT Operations Service of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has chosen Capgemini as its partner in an office automation initiative, in a five year contract worth 50 million euros.

Capgemini will be responsible for 9,000 workstations belonging to both the core department and the Ministry’s operational services. Capgemini will also manage the automation of the central networking and server infrastructure.

The core element of the technology Capgemini is offering is a ‘virtual desktop’, enabling a high degree of mobility and flexibility for the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture’s workforce. The ‘virtual desktop’ environment is delivered from Capgemini’s data centre, located in Amsterdam, to the most appropriate device, depending on each employee’s requirements (e.g. laptop, desktop, PDA or other device).