Input says: Fed IT deals up 60 percent

The Input Output report, "Where Did the Money Go?"

Federal agencies awarded $155 billion in information technology prime contracts in fiscal 2004, an increase of 60 percent over fiscal 2003's $95 billion, according to market research firm Input.

Defense agencies were the primary reason for the increase, according to an Input report issued Dec. 2. Four of the top five departments were defense related.

According to Input, the top five agencies awarded $118 billion, or 76 percent of the total awards for the year. They were:

Navy, $36.8 billion

Army, $34.3 billion

Defense, $18.3 billion

Air Force, $16.5 billion

Homeland Security Department, $12.2 billion

Network and telecommunications contracts increased 900 percent in fiscal '04 as well, according to the report, rising from $1.9 billion in fiscal '03 to $19.2 billion.

Two major Defense contract accounted for 84 percent of the 2004 awards, said Michael Boland, senior analyst of federal vendor profiles at Input. Those were $9 billion for the Air Force Network Centric Solutions (NETCENTS) program and $7 billion for the Army Warfighter Information Network-Tactical System (WIN-T) program.