RCI gets Army managed services contract

Resource Consultants Inc. has won a $202 million contract for desktop services with the Army's Information Management Support Center.

The seven-year contract is the largest single award the Vienna, Va.-based company has ever won, executives said.

The performance-based contract also marks a shift toward managed services for the center, which is under the Headquarters Department of the Army and supports about 90 Army agencies and staff elements, said Ron Lewis, RCI's vice president for information technology and program manager for the contract.

"Traditionally, HQDA has let its many organizations be responsible for picking their own contractors," he said.

The new deal replaces a multivendor contract that was held by RCI and three other companies, which competed with each other for task orders.

By replacing that contract with a single winner, the Army is trying to streamline and standardize its IT operations, said Bill Warren, RCI's vice president of corporate development.

RCI's team includes EDS Corp., SRA International Inc., Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Internosis Inc., SMS Data Products Group Inc., Reliable Integration Services Inc., ComPro Systems Inc., Computer & Hi-tech Management Inc., AC Technologies Inc., Robbins-Gioia, Compex Corp. and DKW Communications Inc.

The Army is moving to more commercial practices by structuring the contract as a managed service one, which puts the onus on RCI and its teammates to meet service-level agreements, Lewis said.

The agreements set performance standards for the IT infrastructure, such as networks, help desk and desktop support. The new contract allows for quicker refresh of technology, improved user support and IT standardization.

For the company, the contract will provide a significant boost in revenue, Warren said. RCI is projected to pull in $274 million in 2003 revenue and has been growing at close to 25 percent a year, he said. The company was ranked No. 82 on the Washington Technology Top 100 list.

The Army contract will represent just under 10 percent of RCI's revenue going forward, Warren said.

The contract also gives the company an important reference, allowing it to bid on larger contracts than RCI has in the past.

"Now that we have this one, we'll be able to compete better on larger contracts," Warren said. "We think it will step up our overall growth to more than 25 percent for the next several years."