FBI Mulls Outsourcing

The FBI is considering outsourcing its desktop computers and services in a setup similar to the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet contract, said Mark Tanner, FBI information resources manager.

Tanner, speaking at a May 10 conference in McLean, Va., cited help desks and some accounting and budgetary functions as examples of the activities under consideration.

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, is encouraging the outsourcing study, Tanner said.