Ciber to guide Idaho transportation through EA

The Idaho Transportation Department wants Ciber Inc. to help it build an enterprise architecture strong enough to support new technology systems and applications that are part of a departmentwide transformation initiative.

Under a three-year contract worth $3 million, Ciber of Denver will assess the department's computing structure and architecture, develop an enterprise architecture blueprint, implement the enterprise architecture solution, and train and mentor staff in its use.

Enterprise architecture is the practice of applying a comprehensive and rigorous methodology for describing current and future organizational processes, information systems and other processes.

The company wants to help the customer assess its architecture in the most expeditious way and transfer industry best practices to department operations, said Barry Van Sant, vice president of Ciber's Government Enterprise Architecture Practice, in a statement.

Ciber wants to make sure the department is "learning the most efficient and up-to-date methods of enterprise architecture design and implementation," he said.

The Idaho Transportation Department is responsible for all modes of statewide transportation used for personal travel as well as interstate commerce.

Ciber, a systems integration and IT consulting firm, has about 8,000 employees and annual sales of $950 million.