CDC federal work passes $1b with new Defence deal


Joseph Brookes
Senior Reporter

Canberra Data Centres has booked more than $1 billion in Commonwealth contracts since launching in 2007 to meet the storage needs of the federal government, passing the milestone with the signing of a new 10-year deal with Defence last month.

The $91.5 million Defence contract is double the value of its previous most lucrative contract with the big spending department, and was revealed Thursday through public tender documents.

Canberra Data Centres (CDC) will receive $91.5 million from Defence over the life of the ‘Data Centre Services’ contract which runs to 2032.

One of CDC’s Hume campuses. Image CDC.

The arrangement comes just weeks before CDC’s other main deal with Defence – an eight year, $48 million ‘Data Pod’ contract – is set to expire in September.

But the latest contract is not a replacement, a Defence spokesperson said..

“The new contract with Canberra Data Centres provides additional infrastructure and services support to Defence’s data hosting capabilities, consistent with Defence’s Data Hosting Strategy,” the spokesperson told InnovationAus.com

The contract pushed CDC’s total Canberra work past the $1 billion mark, according to public tender documents disclosing the 288 contracts it holds or has held with Australian government agencies.

Founded in 2007 by Ken Lowe, Craig Sebbens and Greg Boorer to provide government clients with the secure data centre facilities they increasingly needed; the company grew to an $816 million valuation, when it was sold to institutional investors in 2016.

It is now the largest privately-owned and operated data centre business in Australia, with Mr Boorer still its chief executive officer.

CDC has expanded to non-government areas but holds large deals with Commonwealth agencies, including its biggest arrangement with Services Australia, an 11-year $295 million facility lease.

It also holds a $95 million deal with Home Affairs and a $73 million deal with the Tax Office, both running for a decade each.

CDC is one of a handful of providers cleared to hold sensitive government data under the new Hosting Certification Framework sovereignty scheme.

The latest contract with Defence was signed under the Data Centre Facilities Supplies Panel (Panel 2) which is expected to be superseded by a new arrangement from next year.

This article has been updated to include a comment from a Defence spokesperson.

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