Texas brokers e-mail deal with IBM

The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) has signed an agreement with IBM to develop, implement and manage e-mail services statewide.

State agencies, local governments and the education community have the option of selecting Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook and Web e-mail based on a per-user rate. They can also mix and match their options based on individual or staff needs, meaning all e-mail clients will interoperate seamlessly.

IBM will manage and host messaging services starting at $1.99 per mailbox per month for 10M for basic Web e-mail. For enhanced Web e-mail that provides 25M of storage, the price will be $2.50 per mailbox per month. For Lotus Notes or Microsoft Outlook services, the price is $5.52 per mailbox per month for 25M of storage.

Standard services include calendaring, task management and personal contacts. Additional services available at extra cost include instant messaging, virtual workspace, Web conferencing, enterprise fax, records and document management, enhanced identity management, enhanced service-level performance and wireless support.

The services are hosted in a Dallas-based data center that would provide redundancy, scalability and security for all customers, according to a press release.

Services are available to state agencies immediately, while other public entities must wait until June to receive them.

The deal represents a 45 percent savings compared with agency costs and published national averages, the release states.

“In addition to the significant cost savings, this agreement provides added security, performance guarantees, disaster recovery services and increased functionality for public sector entities,” Larry Olson, Texas’ chief technology officer, said in a prepared statement.

“We have created a new and repeatable approach to the delivery of e-mail solutions across state government and have used DIR’s purchasing volume to leverage the benefits to local government and education,” he added.