Visio wins DOD BPA

Visio Corp. said it signed a $10.7 million, two-year blanket purchase agreement with the Navy covering the company's line of technical drawing and diagramming software designed to help develop and manage information systems.

The new Visio contract will be open to all military services and Defense Department agencies. Dan Porter, chief information officer of the Navy, said that extending the agreement to all of DOD "will save both time and money."

Porter said that the "Visio agreement will provide our personnel with a graphical communications tool for exchanging drawings and diagrams that ultimately will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our communications."

Products covered by the BPA include:

* Visio Standard, which enables users to easily transfer ideas into effective images that communicate business processes, ideas, projects and plans.

* Visio Technical, which is design software for engineers who create or review 2-D technical drawings and diagrams with intelligent object technology. The software enables engineers who are not experts in computer-aided design to produce technical diagrams.

* IntelliCAD 98, which offers Autodesk Inc. AutoCAD compatibility, Microsoft Corp. Windows integration and productivity features that streamline work. Like AutoCAD, IntelliCAD uses the .Dwg file format as its native format. IntelliCAD 98 also supports the AutoCAD command line as well as Autodesk AutoLISP and ADS programs.

* Visio Professional, which enables managers to design and document an organization's information systems and business processes and to streamline interdepartmental or cross-functional communications.

* Visio Enterprise, which is designed for IT professionals who develop, manage and maintain enterprise information systems.

* Visio Network Equipment, which is an add-on solution for designing and documenting networks. It includes more than 12,000 exact-replica hardware shapes for more than 300 network and telecommunications hardware manufacturers.