Marines launch "Enterprise" computer buy

The Marine Corps is looking for vendors to meet its worldwide requirements for desktop computers, laptops andservers through a series of "Enterprise Solution" blanket purchase agreements, the service announced today.

The announcement, made by the Information Technology Infrastructure program office in Quantico, Va., comes justweeks after deputy chief information officer Debra Filippi announced that the Marines were adopting an enterprisewideIT strategy to standardize hardware and software procurements across the Marine Corps [FCW, Dec. 21, 1998].

The new strategy is part of the Marine Corps' effort to adopt the standards laid out by the Navy's InformationTechnology for the 21st Century (IT-21) initiative, which is designed to establish a common computing environmentbased on commercial products and standards for all IT systems deployed on Navy ships and on shore.

The BPAs that may result from this announcement will become the mandatory acquisition vehicles for Marine Corpsunits worldwide and also will be available for use by Navy commands. According to the Marine Corps, the BPAs willbe available through the Navy's Information Technology Catalog (ITEC Direct), the Marine Corps' Buyer's Guide orthe Defense Department's E-Mall.