Northrop Grumman wins State Department messaging contract

Northrop Grumman Corp. has won an order from the State Department to design and demonstrate a fully secure and integrated messaging and archiving system.

The initial award, to Northrop Grumman's IT sector, has an initial value of $3 million, but could be worth $237 million over 10 years if options are exercised.

The company estimates the project will bring approximately 110 new jobs.

The system, the State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset, or SMART, is the top priority IT project for the department. It will replace the existing multiple fragmented messaging systems and significantly improve employees' ability to find and access information necessary for analyzing foreign policy issues.

Northrop Grumman IT will replace existing messaging and e-mail systems; incorporate document management, search and retrieval, and build the foundation for knowledge management. The company also will provide commercial off-the-shelf integration with minimal customization. Other responsibilities include testing and deploying the system and providing operations and maintenance.

The pilot will begin in June and will be used by about 3,000 people. Global deployment is slated for January 2005, and will support 46,500 users at 260 locations worldwide by the end of 2005.

Northrop Grumman's team includes Advanced Research Technologies Inc., Allied Technology Group Inc., BEA Systems Inc., Computer Information Specialist Inc., Integrated Technologies Inc., Crius Inc., Data Systems Analysts Inc., DigitalNet Inc., Bantu Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Worldwide Information Network Systems Inc.