Pension agency takes new approach to buying IT services

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. awarded Computer Sciences Corp. a $70.3 million contract to consolidate its procurement of information technology services and to create a more manageable, user-friendly environment.

PBGC, which protects the pensions of 44 million U.S. workers and retirees, plans to restructure its IT operational support services towards an enterprise view, the agency said in a notice posted Jan. 15 on Federal Business Opportunities.

The contract includes infrastructure operations, incident and problem management, continuity of operations, integration and testing support and configuration and database management.

“It is critical to note that this initiative is not simply a consolidation of contracts, but a new vision for executing, operating, maintaining and supporting information technology and end-user environments,” PBGC said in its request for proposals on Aug. 25. The agency said it wanted an effective management interface to support IT through consolidated management, efficient operations, effective cost controls, monitored performance metrics, risk reduction, superior customer service and improved controls.

The contract, which has a one-year base and four one-year options, will subsume the current four major services contracts. PBGC is taking a performance-based approach to comply with the President’s Management Agenda to reduce costs over time by consolidating and integrating management.