CMS taps EDS for data center work

EDS Corp. will help consolidate data center operations that support mainframe and client server applications for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under a newly awarded task order.

The one-year contract, which has four one-year options, is worth $29 million if all options are exercised. Under the task order, EDS of Plano, Texas, will establish the first operational enterprise data centers, migrate and process fee-for-service Medicare claims and provide round-the-clock application hosting and production support services.

EDS is one of three companies competing for task orders under the 10-year, $1.9 billion Enterprise Data Center contract that the agency is using.

These data center operations are performed at more than 20 different facilities. The enterprise data centers will be the hub of CMS' IT infrastructure for the next decade, and are central to its modernization initiatives.

CMS uses data center capacity to support client server applications and claims processing for Medicare. The agency anticipates claims processing demands will grow as the Medicare beneficiary population increases from about 40 million in 2005 to a projected 50 million by 2013.

EDS of Plano, Texas, has more than 117,000 employees and annual sales of $20.7 billion in fiscal 2005. The company , ranks No. 6 on Washington Technology's 2005 Top 100 list of federal IT prime contractors. The 2006 Top 100 list will be released May 15.