EDS wins $93M e-travel job from USDA

EDS Corp. of Plano, Texas, will provide employee travel services to the Agriculture Department under a task order worth about $93 million over 10 years, company officials announced today.

EDS is one of three companies competing to provide federal agencies with travel services under the General Services Administration's E-Travel indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract vehicle. Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles and CW Government Travel Inc. of San Antonio are also offering e-travel systems. The three companies in May got GSA's permission to sell their e-travel systems to federal agencies.

The Agriculture contract is the first under the E-Travel vehicle for EDS. According to EDS officials, the department is the largest agency to make an E-Travel award to date.

EDS's e-travel system, called FedTraveler.com, handles planning and authorizing of travel, reservation and fulfillment services, approval of travel expenses, and reporting and auditing of travel expenses.

The firm, fixed-unit price task order has a 28-month base period with three option periods. It is worth about $93 million if all options are exercised.

FedTraveler will be implemented across the Agriculture Department over the next 18 months, according to EDS.

GSA officials expect the E-Travel program to cut federal travel management costs in half over 10 years. By year's end, 24 agencies will select an E-Travel provider.

Northrop Grumman Corp. has won e-travel contracts with the departments of Health and Human Services, Transportation and Treasury.

EDS ranks No. 8 on Washington Technology's 2004 list of Top 100 contractors. The company has 130,000 employees and had $21.5 billion in revenue in fiscal 2003.