REI Systems wins enterprise architecture subcontract

REI Systems Inc. will assist an IBM Corp. team in modernizing the enterprise architecture for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under a six-year subcontract with a maximum value of $225 million.

FEMA awarded IBM the $915 million six-year prime contract in September for the long-awaited Enterprise Applications Development, Integration and Sustainment program, which will consolidate and integrate FEMA's information technology systems and applications.

The contract is part of the Homeland Security Department's Enterprise Applications Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions vehicle.

IBM's other team members include Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Oracle Corp. and Computer Sciences Corp.

The upgrade to FEMA's IT systems is one of the agency's most ambitious infrastructure programs. It will create an integrated environment for operating FEMA's many programs, including disaster assistance, preparedness grants distribution and individual assistance. It will develop a common enterprise architecture and software for FEMA's major systems.

The EADIS program has been in the works since at least 2003. FEMA's computer shortcomings contributed to the agency's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina, according to an April 2006 report by the department's Office of the Inspector General.

REI Systems, based in Herndon, Va., has assisted FEMA in the past.