Pentagon to outsource network ops
DOD plans this year to outsource support for more than 7,000 desktop users and consolidate all Pentagon network operations and security support with a single vendor
The Defense Department plans this year to outsource support for more than
7,000 desktop users at the Pentagon and will consolidate all Pentagon network
operations and security support in a contract with a single vendor, Federal
Computer Week has learned.
Senior officials recently met to discuss a plan that would transfer
to a single vendor responsibility for at least 7,000 unclassified desktops
within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and an undisclosed number
of classified system users by the first quarter of fiscal 2001. Officials
also discussed plans to outsource all Pentagon network operations and security
to a single commercial contractor.
The goal of the desktop outsourcing deal is to consolidate management
of common applications throughout all OSD offices, said Paul Brubaker, who
today officially became DOD's deputy chief information officer.
"This is a performance-based contract," Brubaker said. "So, we're going
to expect the e-mail to be up" along with various other common computing
applications, he said.
Brubaker said the contract will be mandatory for all OSD personnel.
In addition, the command, control, communications and intelligence office
will be offered local-area network services, desktop help-desk services
and mission application support, he said.
DOD also plans to transfer responsibility for the entire OSD network
backbone within the Pentagon to the Network Infrastructure Services Agency.
NISA-P is responsible for managing how connectivity from the Defense Information
Systems Network is routed and managed throughout the Pentagon.
However, NISA-P plans to outsource all Pentagon network operations and
security, according to Brubaker. "Right now they have a number of fragmented
contracts out there," he said. "What they want to do is get one single contractor
so they have accountability."
Brubaker declined to name the vendor, but said that the company currently
holds a governmentwide acquisition contract.
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