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If you have engaged us for IT strategy work, you may have heard me talk about the magic 3% - where the average annual IT spend for government agencies is around 3% of annual revenue. Although there may appear to be lots of change in the IT sector, many things stay the same. And this magic 3% has stood the test of time. Based on research done in the US in the mid 90’s, we test this theory with the clients we work with. Drop below this and you start to see cracks showing in IT capability - old infrastructure, regular maintenance long overdue, and an unsettling experience for users. Rise above this and it usually indicates a focus on digital transformation and automation.

The magic 3% applies to a government entity of medium complexity (like a Vic LGA) and smaller than 1000 seats. If a business is more complicated than this (like a Water Corp or NSW LGA), then spend increases to somewhere between 5 and 6%. The percentage spend depends on the amount of information work needed to generate revenue.

This is a guide only and needs to be considered against your specific business complexity and size. The magic 3% describes the norm. But, it does make me wonder, would it be possible to spend less than 3% and provide better systems?

Across the Industry

Recent Government Tenders

Microsoft News

  • Microsoft and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) are launching the Biz Apps Graduate Certificate, designed to increase the number of skilled technology workers in Australia

  • BeyondTrust has released their Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report 2022, which provides an overview of vulnerabilities as well as strategies to address them


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It takes some work to divide up and allocate work - doesn’t it? All good work starts with a sound plan - in your head or on paper. And there is an art in dividing up work - giving everyone in the team something to chow down on - so that each has a start and end, an objective in mind and the freedom within the work to do it any way you like. Computer science has the concept of a logical unit of work and if you have a good imagination, you can see how this can apply to work that we humans do.

I am intrigued by the similarities between work in the software and real worlds. What if every project was a software development project? What would a house look like if built in an Agile way? Further on this, we are starting every project now as a devops project - no matter whether it’s a software build or a consulting gig. I’ll let you know how we go…

Across the Industry

New Tenders

Microsoft News

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This week sees a focus on building, testing, advising and supporting. One goal I’m pretty keen on is to have a fully automated out-of-the-box experience for provisioning new devices over the air - using Microsoft EndPoint Manager (previously called Intune). Most of this works really well, from installing apps, applying security controls, implementing roaming profiles (using OneDrive), installing printers to rolling out a branded lock screen.

We continue to work on implementing corporate registers in SharePoint, one example being a Contracts register. I really want this work to showcase the best of what SharePoint and PowerApps have to offer. The overall architecture is to have each register as a SharePoint list, and attached documents to be automatically saved into a document library so that they can be managed in-place by their records management system. Some funky notifications are implemented in PowerAutomate. This work really harks to what I believe in - leveraging investment in the Microsoft stack to build elegant and scalable solutions.

Across the Industry
Join Dr Felix Tan in his discussion of the impact of digital transformation on businesses and ecosystems on 21 July 2022.

View the first image released from the Webb telescope, which reveals details of galaxies from billions of years ago.

New Tenders

AWS News
The Victorian government has entered into a state-wide contract with Amazon Web Services (AWS), streamlining access to cloud technology in line with their 2021-2026 Digital Strategy.

Microsoft News
Read about WaterNSW's use of Dynamics 365 to improve and simplify HR processes as part of their digital transformation strategy.

Security Updates
The DHHS have issued a security advisory on Hive Ransomware. Follow these steps to protect your organisation:

  • Check for and block all traffic from the following IP addresses associated with the attack:
    23.227.184.116
    23.227.190.216
  • Sufficiently backup data which is deemed critical or sensitive, including an option for offline storage.
  • Continuously monitor networks for any suspicious traffic and patch VMware ESXi servers with the latest updates.

Read the ACSC’s overview of the creation of a cryptographically relevant quantum computer (CRQC), which will impact the security of current public key cryptography (PKC) technology.

That’s all for this week! Send any topics you would like included in next week’s newsletter to olivia@charlie-mac.com or forward this email to a friend.

Across the Industry
The Digital Innovation Festival is running from August 24 to September 7 this year. Register to watch discussions on artificial intelligencetechnology decision making for small businesses, and future trends or see the full range of events here.

Security researchers can be compensated for identifying bugs in Monash University systems.

Watch Gary Prindle, Carhartt’s Senior Systems Engineer, discuss using AI to reduce costs and boost performance in a free webinar on July 27.

New Tenders

AWS News
AWS is previewing Amazon CodeWhisperer, which recommends code to developers based on existing code and commentary. Click here to read more or to join the waitlist.

Microsoft News
Read about Sentient Hubs’ use of Microsoft Azure to create holistic modelling systems for the protection of wetlands.

Security Updates
Read the ACSC’s guide to effective access controls in organisations.

That’s all for this week! Send any topics you would like included in next week’s newsletter to olivia@charlie-mac.com.