Quest to update Army Windows

The Army will use products from Quest Software Inc. to update domestic computer operating systems to Microsoft Corp.'s Active Directory and Exchange 2003, company officials said.

Today's announcement comes about a month after the Army issued a directive to phase out all Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 operating systems by Dec. 31 because the company will stop supporting NT at the end of this year. The Feb. 4 directive also retires the Windows X and Millennium Edition systems.

Earlier this year, the Army's Network Enterprise Technology Command signed a contract to purchase 375,000 licenses of three Quest applications to prepare for the operating system update. Netcom will use Quest Reporter to assess existing Windows NT domains, Quest ActiveRoles to secure Active Directory and Quest Migrator to convert from NT to Active Directory and Exchange 2003, according to a March 31 Quest statement.

Netcom will use Quest products to update all Army domestic computer operating systems. Command officials, located at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., may hire a systems integrator to oversee the software update project using the service's new Information Technology Enterprise Solutions contract, said Don Tarkenton, the company's federal and Army account manager.

Using the contract, the Army, Defense Department and civilian agencies ask industry how to solve an IT equipment or service problem instead of telling vendors how to do it. Companies submit proposals and service officials choose the best one.

Today's announcement comes three weeks after the Army's European Command hired Quest to convert its numerous Windows NT networks to one network using Windows 2000 or a newer operating system and Active Directory. The command, located in Heidelberg, Germany, also contracted with the company, located in Irvine, Calif., to consolidate its 240 Windows NT domains into a single Active Directory with three domains.