Air Force IT Council steers new PC buy

The Air Force Materiel Command purchased hardware last month by following the service's Information Technology Commodity Council's new IT acquisition and maintenance strategy.

The Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio bought 10,000 desktop computers from one vendor, 400 notebook PCs from a second vendor and monitors from three others, Lt. Col. Thomas Gaylord, deputy director of the Air Force IT Commodity Council, said Sept. 4.

"Air Force Materiel received end-of-year deals on computer pricing," he said.

Air Force officials want commands to buy hardware and software that comply with standard configurations including processing speeds and ports, which will meet 80 percent to 90 percent of users' needs, Gaylord said. New desktop PCs should last for four years, notebook PCs for three, he said.

"Driving standards and interoperability drives down cost," he said.