IBM to upgrade VA infrastructure

IBM Corp. won a $16 million contract to create a standardized, interoperable and secure IT infrastructure for the Veterans Affairs Department.

The IT reorganization will improve delivery of services internally and to veterans. One of the project's key goals is to improve data security. IBM will perform the work through 2008.

The project encompasses all of the agency's major business units, including the Veteran's Health Administration, Veteran's Benefits Administration and National Cemetery Administration.

IBM will bring to bear its experience working on comparable projects both within the health care industry and within government, both in the United States and abroad, the company said.

Veterans Affairs is the second-largest cabinet agency. It manages programs for health care, financial benefits and burial honors. About 63 million Americans are potentially eligible for benefits and services because they are veterans or family members or survivors of veterans.

IBM of Armonk, N.Y., has more than 329,000 employees and posted annual revenue of $91.1 billion in fiscal 2005. The company ranks No. 17 on Washington Technology's 2006 Top 100 list of the largest federal IT contractors.