Unisys moving on TSA systems

Despite the uncertainty over the federal budget for fiscal 2003, Unisys Corp. has awarded 40 subcontracts to help it get the Transportation Security Administration's information technology infrastructure off the ground.

TSA tapped Unisys Aug. 2, 2002, for its billion-dollar Information Technology Managed Services (ITMS) program. Later that month, the agency awarded the first two work orders under the deal.

The first order covers the creation of enterprise and security operations centers. The second covers IT equipment for TSA headquarters, 429 airports nationwide and field offices.

The funding for fiscal 2003 is estimated at $67.5 million for the first order and $154 million for the second, officials said. Congress is still wrangling over budget details, and TSA, like most civilian agencies, is operating under a continuing resolution.

Meanwhile, Unisys is moving on the ITMS job and Kronos Inc. is the latest to sign a subcontract—to automate pay policies for TSA's 60,000 employees.

According to Unisys, many other companies have finalized agreements to provide such services as telecommunications and networking. They include:

Advanced Management Technology Inc., ARINC Inc., BearingPoint Inc., Client Network Services Inc., Computer Sciences Corp., DynCorp Systems and Solutions LLC, IBM Corp., PEC Inc., Reliable Integration Services Inc., RS Information Systems Inc., Technica Corp., Veridian Information Solutions Inc., Communications Cabling and Technology Inc., NRC Government Systems Corp., World Wide Technology Inc., Apropos Technology Inc., Art Technology Group Inc., Darwin Partners Inc., Eteam Inc., Farragut International LLC, FDM Group Inc., Information Systems Support, Intellitech Consulting, Learning Systems International, MCA Computer Group, Okena Inc., OpalSoft Inc., Oracle Corp., Parsons Construction Co., Preferred Systems Solutions Inc., Quality Support Inc., Qualserv Inc., Sabre Inc., Sapphire Technologies, Summit Technologies, SundRy Inc., TekSystems Inc., The Moore Group, and VistaRMS.

Beyond their individual contributions, those partners are part of a larger project. ITMS emphasizes managed services, a relatively new procurement strategy in which an agency pays a company for technology solutions that help fulfill defined goals as set out by its mission.

The approach has received cautious praise from the federal IT community, which is watching to see how Unisys and TSA proceed.

President Bush signed legislation creating the agency in November 2001.