Sysorex, BTG land PC-2 pacts

BTG Inc. and Sysorex Information Systems Inc. captured the Army's PC-2 procurement for 133 000 high-powered Pentium PCs with what one industry source described as "astonishingly low prices for very advanced computers."

Sysorex according to industry sources won with a bid of $217 million while BTG came in slightly higher at $284 million. One industry source put the Sysorex bid "close to $100 million below the competition."

Both companies will supply a low-end machine with the "benchmark equivalent" of a Pentium 166 and a high-end machine in the Pentium Pro 200 range. "Users can choose between two preconfigured systems or order one of two base systems and add the accessories they need " said Debbie Hoffman contracting officer for the Communications-Electronics Command (Cecom).

The Cecom Acquisition Center Washington Operations Office (CACWOO) which ran the PC-2 procurement did not immediately identify the solution proposed by the winners. But CACWOO did say that the low-end systems from both companies feature 17-inch monitors 1G hard drives CD-ROMs and 16M of RAM. The high-end systems will provide Army users with 21-inch monitors and 2G hard drives.

Peripherals and accessories available on the contract include RAM and hard disk drive upgrades PC card hard drives network interface cards internal or external modems and a PC card fax modem according to CACWOO. Other options include a recordable compact disc drive speakers laser printers near-letter quality printers and an office automation software suite.

Sysorex president Carlton Jones declined to provide any further details on the company's offering until the protest window expires later this week. The Army cut Micron Electronics Inc. from the final bidding round last month and Felice Liston Micron's director of government sales said she would wait until receiving a post-award debriefing before deciding whether to protest.

Competitors speculated that Sysorex bid a "no name" clone for the low-end machine and a name brand possibly IBM Corp. on the high end. Sysorex provides IBM PCs on the Army's PC-1 contract.

Scott Reynolds director of program development at BTG said his company was "excited to have won the Army contract. It's our first major Army contract." Reynolds also declined to provide any details of his company's bid until after the protest period.

An industry source said he assumed that BTG offered computers from EliteGroup Computer Systems Fremont Calif. BTG originally offered PCs from EliteGroup on its winning bid for the Navy Technology for Office and Portable Systems contract but switched to PCs from Compaq Computer Corp.

Other bidders on the PC-2 buy included: Electronic Data Systems Corp. Government Technology Services Inc. and Telos Corp. EDS which shares the PC-1 contract with Sysorex "wanted PC-2 bad " one industry source said. But he quickly asked "Who wants it at these prices?"

Lt. Col. Mary Fuller manager of the Army Small Computer program said she expects PC-2 ordering guides to be distributed to contracting agencies within 30 days and that users can start ordering next month.