DLA deal due shortly

Defense Logistics Agency officials say a multimillion-dollar outsourcing contract will be awarded soon to a team of vendors that will consolidate and manage the agency's information technology infrastructure. Contractors originally expected the agency to award the Enterprise Data Center initiative contract by Aug. 13. DLA officials expect to award the deal soon, said Jack Hooper, agency spokesman.

"There is some paperwork needed and congressional notification must be made prior to public release," Hooper said.

DLA officials recently launched the initiative to increase efficiency and cost savings and reduce IT inventory and security vulnerabilities. They want to streamline the agency's disparate, global office system structure into a coherent regional one with network center hubs in the United States, Europe and the Pacific Rim, according to the procurement's request for quotations. The agency operates more than 2,600 computer servers running older proprietary applications, and officials want vendors to install new hardware using commercial software, the document states.

DLA stopped receiving bids April 16. Officials finished evaluating them June 18.

"DLA has come to the conclusion that there is a need to consolidate and outsource server and database operations from the current multidistributed data center approach to a logical Enterprise Data Center using a geographically dispersed data center approach," the document states.

DLA will set aside 23 percent of the Enterprise Data Center's program money for businesses that fit at least one of the following categories: small, disadvantaged or woman-owned. The contract covers five years with five one-year options.

The winner must deploy an initial network infrastructure with host and support services by February 2005 for four DLA sites and a fully operational network for the entire agency by August 2006, the document states.