CDW-G to deliver Microsoft software to Navy overseas bases

CDW Government Inc has entered into a three-year enterprise software agreement with the Navy to deliver Microsoft software to Navy installations outside the United States. The agreement, announced today, includes one base year and two one-year options and is worth $11 million if the options are exercised.

Under the agreement, CDW-G will provide the software for 28,000 desktops and 884 servers in the Naval Network Warfare Command's One-Net, the overseas enterprise network that is replacing disparate systems with a single network covering 16 shore installations in Europe, the Middle East and Far East.

This network falls outside the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet, which covers more than 360,000 seats at stateside facilities.

"The Navy has three entities: NMCI, OCONUS [outside the contiguous United States] and the fleets," explained Mike Bradshaw, director of the defense sector for Microsoft. "That makes it a little more difficult. We looked at NMCI to make sure this is all in sync."

With licensing agreements already in place with the Army and Air Force, Bradshaw said, this contract extends interoperability across all of the Defense Department.

The Marine Corps is not specifically a party to the agreement, but where it shares facilities with the Navy in Japan and Europe, it could include them, said Max Peterson, CDW-G's vice president of federal sales.

The agreement provides enterprisewide licenses for six Microsoft server programs, along with the Windows XL Enhanced Desktop Pro bundle of applications that CDW-G currently provides through the Defense Department's Enterprise Software Initiative. Individuals serving in the Navy also can buy the Microsoft Office Professional software suite through a new home-use program for less than $25.

Elements of the program mirror Microsoft's enterprisewide agreement with the Air Force announced last fall, Bradshaw said. A second Air Force agreement, which addresses how to coordinate patch management across the entire service, is not included in the Navy agreement, but Bradshaw said his goal is to take the lessons learned out to all of the Defense Department.

"Now we can start tweaking security settings across the entire OCONUS environment," he said. "It's great for Microsoft and great for the customer."

CDW-G's role in the agreement is the overall software enterprise licensing, purchasing and management, Peterson said. "We're keeping track of licensing locations [and] support responsibilities. In order to do that, CDW-G has a number of dedicated software license specialists."

There are major advantages to the Navy in entering this contract, according to Peterson. "The management consolidation and purchasing process that this establishes for the Navy is going to save them a lot of money," he said. "Second, ? by enabling the Navy to have a clear upgrade path for desktops and server systems, that will enhance interoperability, security, simplify system maintenance and system patching."

CDW-G is a subsidiary of CDW Corp. The company has more than 3,800 employees and annual sales of $5.7 billion. It ranked No. 56 on Washington Technology's 2005 Top 100 list, which measures federal contracting revenue.

Patience Wait is a staff writer for Washington Technology's sister publication, Government Computer News.