CSC shows briefing center

Computer Sciences Corp. last week took the wraps off its $30 million 36 000squarefoot conference center in Falls Church Va. which will host federal and commercial organizations. The Executive Briefing Center features videoconferencing facilities equipped with PictureTel Corp. equipment computerb

Computer Sciences Corp. last week took the wraps off its $30 million 36 000-square-foot conference center in Falls Church Va. which will host federal and commercial organizations.

The Executive Briefing Center features videoconferencing facilities equipped with PictureTel Corp. equipment computer-based training rooms and a 98-seat theater for presentations. Many of the building's meeting tables are equipped with recessed jacks so that users can connect notebook computers to the Internet or in the case of CSC employees the company's internal network. Additionally the building is wired for 100Base-T networking. The main purpose of the center is to brief prospective customers and conduct internal training.

Van B. Honeycutt chairman president and chief executive officer of CSC said the center will be used mostly to brief commercial clients although company officials expect to conduct presentations for federal executives as well. Honeycutt said the center will provide a forum for discussing the company's outsourcing capabilities with prospects around the world. Outsourcing contracts have helped propel CSC's commercial revenue to about 75 percent of the company's $5.8 billion business.

But Honeycutt said he remains committed to the federal market. "We think it's a great business to be in " he said. "We're going to stay in it." He said the company has adjusted well to the indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity contracting environment that characterizes the federal integration services market.

William Loomis a vice president with stock brokerage firm Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. said CSC has become "more aggressive" in the federal market and it is looking at potential acquisitions in that sector. That is a shift from two years ago when Honeycutt became CEO and headquarters appeared to be "defocusing on federal " Loomis said.

As for federal acquisitions CSC is "looking fairly broadly" and may target as other integrators have companies with intelligence business.

A CSC spokesman said the company has always looked at potential acquisitions in the federal market as a matter of course.