RSIS nets $409 million Energy Department deal

RS Information Systems Inc. won a five-year, $409 million Energy Department contract to provide information technology support.

The task order is a small business set-aside and is one of the largest small-business awards the agency has ever made, according to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

The deal is a consolidation of numerous expiring IT contracts. It includes IT support services, cybersecurity, telecommunications support, enterprise architecture and help-desk support.

Rodney Hunt, president and chief executive officer of the McLean, Va., company, said he estimates that about 500 people working on the expiring contracts will make the transition to the new contract, and RSIS will add another 150 to 200 people. About 400 of them will be on RSIS' payroll, with the remainder joining one of the subcontractors on the team put together by the company, he said.

RSIS' team includes Science Applications International Corp., San Diego; Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Va.; IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y.; and Qwest Communications International Inc., Denver. Another 10 small businesses round out the team.

One of the most satisfying aspects of RSIS' win, Hunt said, was that the company went in with a team that had no incumbent contract holders on it. The major incumbents, such as DynCorp of Reston, Va., Verizon Communications Inc. of New York, and Electronic Data Systems Corp. of Plano, Texas, all teamed with other competitors.

"You'd think they would have the advantage with the incumbent knowledge, [but] we were able to overcome the disadvantage," Hunt said.

RSIS employed 1,400 people in 2002, and brought in revenue of about $190 million, Hunt said. The large contract win will attract attention to RSIS, he said. "The federal government will be focusing on us - 'Let's make sure the company can [handle] this,-- and the small business community will be 'rooting for us to be successful," Hunt said.

"Small business is just as credible as large business. The diversity of our customer base and our services offering make us a perfect match for this," he said.

The RSIS team

SAIC
Booz Allen Hamilton
IBM
Qwest
NCI Information Systems Inc.
e-Management Consultants Inc.
Highland Technology Services Inc.
Advanced Systems Development Inc.
Planet Technologies Inc.
Systalex Corp.
AC Technologies Inc.
ActionNet Inc.
TranTech Inc.
Computer & Hi-tech Management Inc.