Digital Government

Rivalry forming over FTS 2001 transition

While vendors on the General Services Administration's Technical and Management Support (TMS) Services program expect a huge boom in business thanks to the forthcoming transition to FTS 2001, they may be up against some unexpected competition from the Transportation Department's Information Technology Omnibus Procurement and the newly awarded ITOPII.

Digital Government

Integrators aim high on software methodology

The software development processes used by federal contractors to write the programs that run the onboard systems of the space shuttle, fighter jets and other complex equipment are graded, like a lot of things in government. Not every company's development process goes through an evaluation, and n

Digital Government

Bell Atlantic rings up hardware sales

Although many companies on the General Services Administration schedule benefited from an increase in information technology services sales, one company is growing without relying on services. Bell Atlantic Federal attributes its phenomenal sales during the summer of 1998 to new hardware. In partic

Digital Government

GTE to sell government group

Telecommunications vendor GTE Corp. announced today it plans to sell off its Government Systems subsidiary as part of a corporate effort to refocus its business lines.

Digital Government

Air Force lab develops tech to secure digital imagery

The Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, N.Y., has developed a cuttingedge technology solution that aims to boost Internet security by preventing the fraudulent manipulation of photographs, videos and other digital media used throughout government and industry. The technology, known as digital wat

Digital Government

Dell builds sales success around strong customer relationships

Dell Computer Corp. blew away the competition on the General Services Administration schedule last year. The gap between Dell and its closest competitor, Gateway Inc., spread from about $40 million in 1997 to almost $248 million in 1998. In sales reported from July 1996 through June 1997, the compa

Digital Government

25 tapped for ITOP-II

Anticipating a growing need for services, the Transportation Department earlier this month awarded 34 prime contracts to 25 companies under a $10 billion information technology services followon contract. The sevenyear Information Technology Omnibus ProcurementII (ITOPII) contract will provide

Digital Government

HP debuts Gigabit Ethernet switches

HewlettPackard Co. last week unveiled a highend Gigabit Ethernet routing switch that helps round out the company's product line by addressing the backbone of the enterprise. The HP ProCurve Routing Switch comes in two models: the fourslot 9304M and the eightslot 9308M. Both are designed for loc

Digital Government

Tight budgets pinch training, CIOs report

Many agencies do not have the resources and budget to adequately train information technology managers to meet core competencies as required by the ClingerCohen Act, according to a draft of a survey of agency chief information officers.

Digital Government

Visio enhancements ease diagramming

Need to create businessoriented diagrams, timelines or flow charts? Consider Visio Corp.'s Visio Standard 5.0 and its Business Bonus Pack addition, which started shipping this fall.

Digital Government

Wireless standard still a disconnect

Nearly six months have passed since vendors released a wave of wireless data products built to a new standard that promises interoperability among different vendors' products, but observers doubt whether this development will spur the industry toward a boom any time soon.

Digital Government

Group disbands intergovernmental panel

The Intergovernmental Enterprise Panel, a group established three years ago to promote sharing of information technology solutions among federal, state and local agencies, was disbanded last week by its parent organization, the Government Information Technology Services Board. G. Martin Wagner, a G

Digital Government

GSA to test new buying concept

The General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service plans to develop by June up to five pilot contracts to test an innovative method of funding information technology projects. Agencies using the new method, called shareinsavings, can create contracts for IT systems that require litt

Digital Government

Industry Watch

Intel to unveil new processors Intel Corp. this week will announce the release of two new Pentium II processors and three new Celeron processors. The new mobile Pentium II processors, with the code name 'Dixon,' bring that line up to 333 MHz and 366 MHz with a new integrated Level 2 cache on the pr

Digital Government

How can winners defend awards?

The following topic was raised by a company representative: What is the role of the apparently successful offeror when a procurement decision is challenged in federal court? This is another seemingly straightforward question to which the answer is anything but straightforward. To pursue an action i

Digital Government

Lax security risks taxpayer data

The Internal Revenue Service's computer systems have serious security weaknesses that put sensitive personal tax information at risk, according to a General Accounting Office audit released this month. According to the audit, in which GAO investigated six IRS facilities, the facilities could not ac

Digital Government

MCI wins in Round Two of FTS 2001

The General Services Administration this month selected MCI WorldCom as the second contractor on the $5 billion FTS 2001 contract that will provide the federal government with longdistance services and save taxpayers billions.

Digital Government

GSA awards $25 billion IT services pact

The General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service last week awarded its $25 billion information technology services and support contract to 10 vendors.

Digital Government

Clinton: $1.4B to fight cyberterror

President Clinton last week said his fiscal 2000 budget request will include $1.4 billion for protection of the banking, electric and other critical systems and for computer security a 40 percent increase in the two budget years since the president created the Critical Infrastructure Protection C