EDS to Brief Texas Legislature on TIES

Electronic Data Systems Corp., Plano, Texas, this week will deliver a report to the Texas legislature on the Texas Integrated Enrollment and Services (TIES) program — a bold attempt to privatize aspects of its welfare-eligibility system.

John Petraborg, EDS' vice president of state and local government, said the report is a "programmatic" update on the state's business plan for revamping its delivery of human services programs. EDS is nearing completion of its advanced planning duties that will help the state generate a request for proposals, which is due in the fall.

Texas likely will make an award next spring, Petraborg said. In its first incarnation, TIES was a $2 billion systems re-engineering effort that the industry's largest integrators, including EDS, Lockheed Martin Corp., IBM Corp., Unisys Corp., vied for. But EDS took itself out of the running, instead locking in a deal to assist the state with integration plans and to help devise the replacement RFP. The deal still carries a hefty price tag.