Gateway supplies DLA computers

Gateway Inc. has started delivering E-Series desktops and 200, 400 and 600-series notebooks to Defense Logistics Agency sites as part of DLA's new $50 million initiative to update hardware and consolidate services, agency and industry officials said today.

DLA will formally announce tomorrow that it chose Gateway over four vendors to supply it with 25,000 desktop PCs and 12,000 notebook PCs during the next four years. The agency currently operates and maintains 31,000 PCs at 500 sites worldwide.

DLA wants to consolidate PC buys into a single blanket-purchase agreement. The Gateway contract will increase hardware standardization agencywide and decrease costs, Bruce Paton, DLA's Enterprise Licensing Division director, said in a statement.

"Gateway ultimately came out on top because the company was able to offer the best value to DLA," Paton said.

The hardware manufacturer beat out Dell Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp., and MPC Computers LLC.

The DLA win is Gateway's largest standardized contract with the Defense Department, company officials said.

Gateway's proposal reflected price, service and e-commerce value, Jay Lambke, the company's vice president of institutional marketing, said today. DLA has placed multiple hardware orders, which will total $12 million to $15 million annually, said Bridget Winders, the company's federal sales director.

DLA started its hardware and services consolidation program in 2002. The agency issued a request for quotations in June 2002, vendors submitted proposals by January 2003 and it evaluated them this spring.

Dibya Sarkar contributed to this story.