Top 100 Federal Contractors for Information Technology

P> Here they are -- the masters of the government information technology universe, whose contracts in this list total up to a whopping $16.5 billion.

Here's how Eagle Eye's analysis works, and how it defines the information technology market: Data is grouped using more than 100 product and service codes and 30 standard industrial classification codes relating to automated data processing and telecommunications. If companies in the categories make, provide or sell something that facilitates the collection, processing or dissemination of electronic information, they are included -- a broader definition than traditional infotech market definitions relating to the Brooks Act.

In addition to the core group of product and service codes used to define federal information processing, Eagle Eye included telephone and communications services, computer-related research and development, computer wholesaling and retailing, and defense equipment contracts (for night-vision goggles or range finders for tank cannons, for instance).

Some important caveats:

• It does not include classified business with the intelligence community, a key component of federal revenues for many information technology companies, such as E-Systems and TRW.

• We have accounted for mergers among companies on the list, provided the transaction was sanctioned and completed by September 1995. Where necessary, we have listed parent company headquarters for companies on the list, though in some cases we differentiated between large companies' major operations and separate divisions or branches that handle federal business. Some non-information technology contract monies for electronics are included.

• Companies are ranked according to total net obligations -- that is, monies dedicated to a contract during a given period. Note that obligations are not necessarily contract totals. Dollar totals used to rank the companies include only money to be spent during the latest fiscal year. Those amounts do not necessarily reflect the total potential value of company contracts, just the portion received during the year. Backlog, for instance, is not included.

• The data covers only prime contracts worth $25,000 or more; subcontracts are not included. Data does not include purchases from GSA Schedule contracts. Companies are ranked by their parents and are made up of all subsidiaries.