Mint calls for seat management

The U.S. Mint is calling for solicitations for a major new contract that includes seat management and infrastructure support across the agency.

Although the Mint did not put a price on the proposal, it is expected to be many millions of dollars. Current contracts, which expire in the coming year, exceed $10 million.

The Mint's commitment to seat management comes just a month after the General Services Administration decided it would not extend its own order under GSA's governmentwide seat management contract.

But officials at the U.S. Mint said they like seat management — treating desktop PCs as a service rather than a commodity — and believe it will save money.

"We're competing this and hoping to get the best value," said Jacquelyn Patillo, the Mint's contracting officer for the project.

The Mint is dividing the contract into three parts — distributed computing environment, telecommunications/networking and data center support. It welcomes bids from different contractors for each of the functions, according to Patillo.

"The Mint wishes to implement an IT infrastructure that is consistent with industry best practices and expects the contractor to provide a comprehensive, best-value solution for contracted services," Mint officials said in a statement.

The Mint has grown to a Fortune 500-sized manufacturing and international marketing enterprise, with more than $3.7 billion in annual revenues and 2,800 employees. It is the world's largest manufacturer of coins, medals and coin-based consumer products.

The deadline for contract proposals is July 2, and Mint officials should award the contracts in early August, according to Patillo.