VA kicks off huge multimillion-dollar buy for up to 600,000 PCs

VA said in its request for information for its enterprisewide PC Refresh contract that it plans to award one indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contract on a purchase or lease basis, with plan to release a request for proposals within three months.

The department owns about 240,000 PCs. The new contract will provide an additional 360,000 computers to supply recently opened clinics and to support VA's mission, officials said in a statement of work, which described the department's requirements.

In August 2007, giant computer manufacturer Dell won a three-year lease deal from VA valued at more than $248 million and the ordering period on that contract ends Aug. 3, 2010.

In its fiscal 2011 budget request, VA said it plans to spend $59.3 million to lease PCs from Dell in fiscal 2010, which ends Sept. 30, and $60 million on the new contract in fiscal 2011. It expects to acquire at least a minimum of 70,000 to 150,000 new PCs during the next four years using the new contract.

On its contract, Dell provides VA with one standard PC configuration, but the department wants to acquire two configurations under the new contract: a standard Windows PC with a 2.66-GHz processor and 4 gigabytes of memory, and an advanced system that has a 3.2-GHz processor and 8 gigabytes of memory.

Dell and PC manufacturer Hewlett-Packard, along with reseller CDW-G, are likely bidders for the upcoming PC buy. A spokesman said HP was interested in the procurement. CDW-G officials did not respond by deadline to a query on whether they intended to bid.

VA said in its request for information that it wants to determine if small businesses can meet its requirements, with responses due on March 15.