DOJ ties IT upgrade to building consolidation

The Justice Department has several building consolidation efforts underway and in parallel wants to do a tech refresh of 50,000 desktops over the next two years.

In a new request for information, DOJ is gathering information on current tech capabilities in the market as well as anticipated trends over the next few years. A goal is a more mobile workforce through what they are calling a DOJ Virtual Office or DVO.

The RFI outlines 20 areas [21, if you count “other”] where DOJ wants information on technology and capabilities.

The list starts off with the desktop and describes how users want to access resources from any device including laptops, tables and virtual desktop appliances. DOJ says that bring your own device will continue to be a trend at the department.

Other areas include infrastructure as a service and software as a service, operating system upgrades, platform diversity, applications, wireless, monitors and displays, telephony, Internet of things, printing, device charging and self-service portals.

It is a wide-ranging list that should draw a variety of respondents. Responses are due July 27. DOJ doesn’t expect each company responding to the RFI to have an answer to all 20 categories.

It seems to be a good management approach that DOJ is looking at such a broad range of technologies that serve its workforce while undergoing the building consolidations. It makes sense. It also could result in a lucrative IT opportunity for government contractors.

Of course, the RFI contains the standard disclaimers that it is not a solicitation and is only for market research purposes. But it does give a lot of insight into what DOJ is looking for in its future desktop infrastructure.