SAIC to build DHS architecture

The Homeland Security Department has tapped Science Applications International Corp. to develop its enterprise architecture. This massive undertaking will require integrating the information technology infrastructures of 22 former federal agencies into a single consolidated architecture.

Lee Holcomb, DHS' chief technology officer, said SAIC was selected from the General Services Administration's Management, Organization and Business Improvement Services contract. The one-year pact is valued at about $1.2 million, with several one-year follow-ons.

SAIC began working on the architecture in May, taking over from Mitre Corp., a federally funded research and development center, which handled the initial phase of the project.

In September, SAIC will deliver a transition plan to move the federal agencies that are now part of DHS from their "current legacy systems to a more integrated system," said Gary Brisbois, Mitre's civil agencies program manager, who helped develop a framework for the architecture.

SAIC officials declined to discuss the project.