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GCN Home > 06/07/05 web stories

Army may change policy on IT procurements

By Dawn S. Onley, GCN Staff

LAS VEGAS—The Army will follow the Air Force Commodity Council's lead on hardware and software purchases.

Lt. Gen. Steven Boutelle, the Army’s CIO, is considering making it mandatory for users to go through the Army Desktop Mobile Computing procurement vehicle to save dollars, promote enterprise solutions, enhance interoperability and improve security, according to Kevin Carroll, the Army’s program executive officer for enterprise information systems (PEO EIS). Until it becomes mandatory, Army users are being encouraged to buy in bulk using ADMC.

"This is the number one priority of the Army Small Computer Program," Carroll said today during the kickoff of ASCP's annual IT conference. Carroll said ADMC is one of seven "building-block" procurements his division is managing for the Army.

Carroll said the Army has closely followed the Air Force model for its quarterly consolidated IT purchases and wants to adapt it to suit the Army culture, which is much larger and more decentralized than the Air Force’s.

Michelina LaForgia, assistant program manager ASCP, said the service had solicited industry feedback on its plan to move forward with the commodity buys. The service is expected to issue a draft policy within the next week or so and also is soliciting feedback from the major commands, program executive officers and directors of information management.

In the Air Force, the IT Commodity Council has reaped substantial benefits from its consolidated quarterly procurements of hardware, becoming a model for aggregating purchases across the Defense Department.

Discussing the other building-block procurements the Army is focusing on this year and next, Carroll referenced:

  • The Army Knowledge Online portal, which PEO EIS picked up responsibilities for this month. Previously, AKO was managed by the Army’s Network Enterprise Technology Command. AKO is the enterprise portal for the Army, and Boutelle will "force people to put applications behind it," Carroll said. An award date for the AKO contract is anticipated for the end of June.


    • More news on related topics: Acquisition / Contracts, Business Process Management, Defense IT, Management, IT Management, Procurement



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