Defence will pay KPMG more than $5 million a year to finish building and support a data modelling tool the consultants have already spent two-and-a-half-years developing under a contract that quadrupled in cost.
Known as the Capability Management and Modelling Tool, it is part of the Australian Army’s attempt to better use data in decision making and considered a key initiative in Defence’s current data push.
A prototype was developed by the consulting giant under an initial $6.3 million contract beginning in 2020 that was extended multiple times, finishing at $25.6 million last month.
The tool remains under development but aspects are in use by Army.
KPMG last month secured a new open tender contract worth another $11.4 million for “the technical sustainment and ongoing development” of the Capability Management and Modelling Tool until June 2024.
“The modelling tool will be used to inform decision making across Army’s operating system through aggregated data and advanced analytics. This is part of Army’s effort to better leverage its data to enable decision making,” a Defence spokesperson said.
“This key initiative will prepare Army’s people, systems and processes for the ADF’s Enterprise Digital Transformation, which will see the transformation of military support operations into a connected, unified enterprise.”
The ADF last year launched its first ever data strategy and is in the midst of a $515 million ‘OneDefence’ data program. KPMG is the lead systems integrator in the $233 million first phase, winning a $110 million contract less than a year after acquiring a local firm that specialised in the underlying software.
KPMG has also landed a several other contracts related to the Australian Defence Force’s technology and data uplift, including a $1 million deal to scan Army’s ICT environment over eight months.
The cost of federal government contracts awarded to KPMG leapt to $373 million last financial year, with the consulting giant pocketing more than a million dollars a day from federal agencies.
