The National Security Agency (NSA) has established an official government-industry partnership for Information Technology Infrastructure (ITI) services within the areas of Telephony, Distributed Computing, Enterprise Management, and Networks by awarding a prime contract on 31 July 2001 to the CSC-led Alliance Team. Today's acquisition, known as Project GROUNDBREAKER, concludes an extensive procurement process, following a 15-month Feasibility Study, announced in a June 2000 Press Release, and a managed competition among industry leaders, announced in a March 2001 Media Update. The winning Alliance Team, self-named as Eagle Alliance, is a CSC-led joint venture in partnership with Logicon, a Northrup Grumman company. Additionally, the team comprises strategic alliance partners that include General Dynamics for telephony and networks, Keane Federal Systems for distributed computing and enterprise management support, and Omen, Inc., a small business that will integrate the Eagle Alliance small business consortium. Technology and Service Delivery Partners for this Alliance Team include ACS Defense, BTG, CACI, Compaq, TRW, Windemere, Fiber Plus, Verizon, and Superior Communications.
As an agency in transition, NSA continues to address the technology explosion of the past decade by leveraging the expertise of the commercial marketplace through an aggressive reformed acquisition strategy. The Eagle Alliance Team will be responsible for redefining and implementing new ITI processes and end-to-end solutions under a contract that has a potential duration of 10 years with a potential value that exceeds $2 billion.
"The ability of NSA to perform its mission depends on an efficient and stable ITI, one that is secure, agile, and responsive to evolving mission needs in balance with the requirements to recapitalize and refresh technology," NSA Director Lieutenant General Michael V. Hayden, USAF, said. "This outsourcing partnership for these four ITI areas supports our transformation efforts. It allows us to refocus assets on the Agency's core missions of providing foreign signals intelligence and protecting U.S. national security-related information systems by turning over several ITI services for industry's purview."
This government-industry partnership will result in service quality improvements, continuous modernization of NSA's ITI, as well as a cost avoidance for the Agency over the duration of the contract. It is also an employee-friendly approach to redefining NSA's internal corporate structure in that the contractors will receive monetary incentives to hire a significant number of Agency employees, and offer them comparable or better pay, benefits, and opportunities. Over the contract duration, Eagle Alliance will manage the selective ITI areas while undergoing continuous governance and monitoring by NSA based on Service Level Agreements that identify the performance levels required. NSA will continue to provide transition services (e.g., career counseling, resume preparation, and seminars) for employees interested in moving to the private sector under this contract.
The contract is expected to be fully operational in November 2001, 2 months ahead of the original schedule.