Defense finance architecture in IBM's hands

IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., won a contract to a develop a Department of Defense financial management enterprise architecture, the Defense Department announced April 10. Issued by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the blanket purchase agreement has an estimated value of $50 million to $100 million.

The IBM team will develop an architectural blueprint that will tie together 967 standalone systems, integrating the department's systems and business processes in logistics, health care, accounting, finance, personnel and other areas. The work is expected to be completed in March 2003.

IBM's team includes Accenture Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda; American Management Systems Inc., Fairfax, Va.; DynCorp, Reston, Va.; KPMG Consulting Inc., McLean, Va.; and Science Applications International Corp., San Diego.

"Development of a financial management enterprise architecture is a major step in realizing Secretary Rumsfeld's goal of managing [the Department of Defense] in an efficient, business-like manner," said Dov Zakheim, the undersecretary of defense who oversees the financial management modernization office.