FBI Looks to NMCI as Model for Outsourcing

The FBI is considering outsourcing its desktop PCs and services in a setup similar to the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet contract, said Mark Tanner, FBI information resources manager. The FBI is studying the possibility of outsourcing in a number of areas, said Tanner, speaking May 10 at the Federal Sources Inc. Outlook 2002 conference in McLean, Va. He cited help desks and some accounting and budgetary functions as examples of the activities being discussed for outsourcing. Under the NMCI contract, a team led by Electronic Data Systems Corp. of Plano, Texas, is providing a broad range of desktop, network and telecommunications services to 360,000 sailors and Marines around the world. The program, which is worth $6.9 billion over eight years, is the largest IT outsourcing project in the federal government.Bob Dies, the FBI's chief information officer, encourages the outsourcing study, he said. "We got a new CIO in July [2000] who believes that industry is faster and better, and we believe him," Tanner said. "We are trying to determine our outsourcing strategies."