CSC shuffles homeland security lineup

Computer Sciences Corp., an information technology company, is reorganizing its federal business units and sharpening its strategies to attract new business in the federal homeland security market.

Paul Cofoni, president of CSC's Federal Sector, said his 18-month review resulted in myriad changes to develop CSC's homeland security business. His plan to revamp his team began before Sept. 11 but accelerated after it.

"The marketplace is really changing," Cofoni said in his office July 24. "We want to be in the top five of the providers of homeland security in five years."

Cofoni dispatched CSC research teams to interview federal clients, and the teams came back with a series of ideas, including a new business unit focused on enforcement, security and intelligence. To further focus their efforts on homeland security issues, the company also added two new presidents to its Federal Sector.

Tim Sheahan was named president of CSC's new Enforcement, Security and Intelligence (ESI) Division. ESI will handle work from the FBI, the CIA, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the National Security Agency, all of which will be affected by the proposed Homeland Security Department. Sheahan will continue to be the general manager of the Eagle alliance, which is the CSC/Northrop Grumman Corp. joint venture that won the multibillion- dollar Groundbreaker contract to modernize NSA's IT systems.

Pat Ways was named president of business development for CSC's Federal Sector, which brings together separate resources within the company's defense and civil groups. Until now, many of CSC's resources were scattered in different pockets of the company.

The new ESI unit, which will handle $700 million in federal contracts, will focus on developing new business with the proposed Homeland Security Department.

"If enterprise integration is important, and we're good at it, and our clients are going to need more of it, how are we going to communicate our capability clearly and consistently so we're not doing it one way here, another way there?" Cofoni asked.

CSC is a company with an excellent reputation and established record of doing business in the government, said Larry Allen, executive vice president of the Coalition for Government Procurement.

"There's not much need to reinvent themselves, but certainly it's marketing savvy if they can recast what they do within the current framework that's in favor," Allen said. "It's a good move, one that shows that even a very large contracting organization feels the need to do this and can do it."

In addition, Cofoni said CSC would be hiring some people with different skill sets, and he is looking particularly for a "hybrid between a fed and a management consultant."

In addition to NSA's Groundbreaker, CSC also holds the Internal Revenue Service's multi-year, multibillion-dollar modernization contract among others.