New Zealand"s Lotteries Commission has selected SAP AG as lead bidder for a system to replace a mix of older systems, none of which "are best of breed", says commission chief executive Trevor Hall.

Many of the legacy systems run on an IBM AS/400 platform and they include the financials package Pegasus.

The implementation will be in two stages, says Hall. The price is "in the million-dollar range" but the final cost is still to be negotiated.

Initial roll-out will be followed by a program to integrate the systems with the commission"s other systems.

Hall says SAP was selected partly because of its experience in the gaming sector overseas, including experience with British lottery body, Camelot.

He wouldn"t name the other contenders but said, "[They"re] the usual tier-one suspects."

The SAP roll-out takes place as the commission revamps its IT infrastructure in a project to be carried out by US gaming technology specialist, Gtech.

Some staff will transfer to Auckland to work on the project, which involves building a data center in Auckland.