Army to outsource knowledge portal

The service plans to issue a solicitation for a lead systems integrator June 15 that would require vendors to submit proposals by Aug. 1.

The Army wants a vendor to oversee the Army Knowledge Online portal.

The service plans to issue a solicitation for a lead systems integrator June 15 that would require vendors to submit proposals by Aug. 1. The service will pick a winner later this year, said Vernon Bettencourt, deputy chief information officer in the Army's Office of the Chief Information Officer/G-6.

The Army administers the portal to 1.6 million users with several contracts. It wants to consolidate AKO's technical and management services to one vendor, said Bettencourt, speaking yesterday at a forum held by Computer Marketing Associates Inc., a government contracting assistance firm in Vienna, Va.

He did not give the procurement's value. He also said the Army does not know if it will use the $1 billion Information Technology Enterprise Solutions contract for the acquisition.

Gen. George Casey, Army vice chief of staff and the service's second-highest officer, told the CIO/G-6 Office to devise a plan to make better use of the portal by providing more personnel services. The service already made one update creating a classified version of Army Knowledge Online with 66,000 users, Bettencourt said.