Army makes plans for leasing PCs, buying network gear
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The Army Communications and Electronics Command will award blanket purchasing agreements for leasing PCs, a CECOM contracting official said. Systems offered on the Army Leasing BPA will have similar configurations to the products on the Army PC-2 contract, said Lee Harvey, acquisition management officer at the CECOM Acquisition Center–Washington Operations Office.
The Army Communications and Electronics Command will award blanket purchasing
agreements for leasing PCs, a CECOM contracting official said.
Systems offered on the Army Leasing BPA will have similar configurations to the
products on the Army PC-2 contract, said Lee Harvey, acquisition management officer at the
CECOM Acquisition CenterWashington Operations Office.
CAC-WOO negotiates BPAs with General Services Administration schedule contractors to
complement indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, Harvey said.
The service has also issued a draft request for proposals for the Small Multiuser
Computer II contracts successor, called Integrated Architecture Solutions I, Harvey
said. IAS-I will have a broader scope than SMC-II, to "provide seamless solutions
from the network to the desktop," he said.
The contract will feature network installations, site surveys and other products and
services. Although the contract will include desktop PCs, CECOM officials dont think
it will lower the demand for PC-2 and its successor contract.
IAS-I will be a one-year, IDIQ contract with four one-year options, Harvey said.
More than 50 vendors met with CECOM officials in April to discuss the contract. CECOM
will release the RFP next month and award the contract by Nov. 2, he said. The SMC-II
contract with Telos Corp., of Ashburn, Va., expires Oct. 1.
Meanwhile, the Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky., is buying 3,700 IBM ThinkPad
380XD notebook PCs from Vanstar Government Systems Inc. using the Army Portable-2
contract, said Nadir Ali, a vice president of the Fairfax, Va., company.
Vanstar competes against Government Technology Services Inc. of Chantilly, Va., on
Portable-2. GTSI formerly held a 3-to-1 advantage on sales for the IDIQ, said Anthony
Battista, team leader of the Army Small Computer Program. Army buyers have shown a strong
preference for notebook PCs that cost less than $3,000, he said.
Defense Department recruiters for years have complained about being overworked,
receiving little support and having to deal with severe stress from recruiting quotas,
officials said.
The notebooks should make life easier for Army recruiters, a GTSI official said.
Despite shipping delays, GTSI is fulfilling the delivery requirements of PC-2, said
Marlene Harold, GTSIs PC-2 program manager.
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