Accenture wins $199M CalPERS pact

Accenture has captured a $199 million contract to develop a consolidated pension information system for California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS.

The modernized database system, which will be used to manage member and employer pension enrollment, contribution and benefit information, will provide faster, more reliable, and more cost-effective service, according to CalPERS. The state agency said that Accenture’s scope of work includes replacing 30-year-old pension systems, including contribution reporting and benefit payments components.

Accenture will also merge three other systems that house employer contract data, member enrollment data and data for the judicial and legislative retirement portions of the retirement system.

The modernization project will let customers access their account information online. The Web-based delivery approach will be built on a service-oriented architecture, according to Accenture. Subcontractors to Accenture include Covansys, Sagitec and AmerIT Consulting.

CalPERS selected Accenture, BearingPoint, Electronic Data Systems and IBM as qualified business partners in May 2005. The agency issued its request for proposals to those firms in July 2005. IBM withdrew from the solicitation process late last year.

Vendors competing in the best-value procurement submitted conceptual proposals, initial and draft proposals, and final proposals, according to CalPERS.

CalPERS’ assets total more than $213 billion. The system provides retirement and health benefits to more than 1.4 million state and local public employees, retirees, and their families.