NMCI testing moves forward

The Navy plans to complete testing of the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet by the end of April and receive permission from the Defense Department to add 100,000 more seats to the program.

Electronic Data Systems Corp., the lead contractor on the $6.9 billion outsourcing program, has assumed responsibility for 48,000 seats, said Rear Adm. Charles Munns, the program director.

Contractor testing and evaluation has been completed at the Naval Air Facility, Washington. Testing is still under way at the Naval Air Station, Lemoore, Calif., and the Naval Air Command at Patuxent River, Md. The Navy expects testing to be completed by the end of the month, Munns said.

Contractor testing involves checking to see if the portal is secure, reliable and compatible with other defense systems and whether service-level agreements are being met.

When fully deployed, NMCI will consolidate 200 networks into an intranet linking more than 360,000 desktop PCs.