Integrator Insider

By Nick Wakeman

The Army is conducting a cost analysis study under the Office of Management and Budget Rule A-76 to see if it should outsource operations at Tobyhanna Army Depot in Tobyhanna, Pa. A contract may or may not be awarded as a result of the study.

The Army is looking at areas such as public works, information technology and "morale, welfare and recreational" services. IT services include management, data processing services, software services, telephone service, telecommunication centers and systems engineering.The Overseas Presence Advisory Panel is looking at how information technology can help the performance of U.S. agencies operating overseas. The panel was established to analyze the operations of agencies such as the Agency for International Development, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Justice Department, State Department and Treasury Department that have offices and operations in other countries.

The panel believes information technology needs to play a bigger role in how these agencies interact and how they work overseas. It is looking for white papers and industry guidance on off-the-shelf technologies that can help with interoperability, security, e-mail, Internet use and other issues.
SRA International Inc. of Fairfax, Va., will be going on the road to promote a new offering for crisis management. Called the Deployable Telecommunications Contingency Package, the offering allows a user to set up a field network of up to 20 laptop computers, phone lines and videoconferencing capabilities. SRA developed the offering through its longtime partnerships with Compaq Computers, TimePlex and American Power Conversion.

SRA began working on the offering after building a mobile network for 600 users for the military, said Anthony Valletta, vice president of command and control systems for SRA. Military and civilian agencies often need a quickly deployable communications network but not one that large, he said.

SRA is hitting the road this summer, targeting customers at defense agencies, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the State Department, the National Transportation Safety Board, National Guard units and state and local governments, said William Scherer, SRA program manager.