State climbs into seat management

In a first for the State Department, the agency's Office of Foreign Buildings

Operations is placing the management of its PC networks, hardware and software

assets and more into the hands of a private computer services company.

The seat management contract between FBO and Wang Government Services

Inc. also makes Wang responsible for deskside support and maintenance, e-commerce

services and training, according to the company.

FBO is responsible for providing safe and secure facilities for State

Department operations overseas. It owns or leases more than 12,000 properties.

The contract, awarded under the General Services Administration's Seat

Management contract, has a one-year base period and nine one-year options.

It will begin with about 1,100 FBO employees in the Washington, D.C., area.

Steve Berg, director of GSA's Federal Computer Acquisition Center, called

FBO "the seat management trailblazer" for State.

"This giant step represents FBO's clear focus on managing its information

technology resources efficiently while keeping pace with the rapid changes

in technology," Berg said.

Wang has similar contracts with the Treasury Department and the Defense

Logistics Agency.