Army opens up PC-3 buys governmentwide
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The Army's latest PC contracts—awarded last month to Government Technology Services Inc. and IntelliSys Technology Corp.—are open to users governmentwide. "It's nice not to have to turn away anyone who wants to buy" from the PC-3 contracts, said Linda Cook, a product leader at the Army Small Computer Program office at Fort Monmouth, N.J.
The Armys latest PC contractsawarded last month to Government
Technology Services Inc. and IntelliSys Technology Corp.are open to users
governmentwide.
Its nice not to have to turn away anyone who wants to buy from the
PC-3 contracts, said Linda Cook, a product leader at the Army Small Computer Program
office at Fort Monmouth, N.J.
All Defense Department and civilian users can buy from the two-year,
indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts with GTSI of Chantilly, Va., and
IntelliSys of Fairfax, Va.
The Army can choose to exercise a third-year option on either contract based on
performance, said Lee Harvey, division chief at the CommunicationsElectronics
Command Acquisition Center-Washington.
Unsuccessful bidders have until March 15 to file protests, Harvey said. If there are
none, the Army will give the contractors notice to proceed with a 60-day start-up period.
The PC-2 predecessor contracts, held by GTSI and Vanstar Government Systems Inc. of
Fairfax, Va., expire May 12 after a 90-day extension, so Army buyers will have an
uninterruptible source for PCs, Cook said. I think [IntelliSys] is
ready. Im comfortable with them.
IntelliSys, a former 8(a) company that focused on services, saw its sales grow from $7
million in 1997 to $122 million in 1998 after it hired four former vice presidents of BTG
Inc. of Fairfax, Va. They left BTG following their unsuccessful attempt to buy the
companys product sales division.
Were dealing with a different company from BTG or GTSI, Cook said of
IntelliSys. When GTSI acquired BTGs product sales division, it experienced some
temporary delivery problems in fulfilling BTGs PC-2 contract, she said.
GTSI has bid Hewlett-Packard Co. PCs on PC-3, said Joel Lipkin, the companys vice
president of business development.
GTSI officials are glad not to have to cope with another transition as they did with
the BTG contract, Lipken said.
Both Lipkin and Scott Reynolds, IntelliSys executive vice president, downplayed
any animosity between the two vendors. I think therell be good, healthy
competition, Reynolds said.
The Army, as GTSIs largest customer, has a dedicated technical support group.
Lipkin said GTSIs International Standards Organization 9000-certified facility will
fulfill the contract requirements, and buyers outside the United States will order through
special Web sites.
IntelliSys bid Compaq Computer Corp. PCs on PC-3, said executive vice president Paul
Collins. Compaq will provide worldwide service through the Digital Equipment Corp. service
organization it acquired last year, he said.
Both companies will sell peripherals. IntelliSys has chosen Canon Computer Systems Inc.
multifunction printers, Hewlett-Packard scanners and 18-page-per-minute Minolta Corp.
color printers, Reynolds said. Microsoft Windows 98 will come standard on PCs, and Windows
NT Workstation 4.0 also will be offered, he said.
Five-year warranties with on-site worldwide service are standard on PC-3, as they were
on PC-2.
Unlike its predecessor contract, PC-3 has leasing options and contract line item
numbers for installation and hourly services. That represents a bit of an
evolution, Reynolds said. The Small Computer Program is responding to the needs of
Army users, he said.
On its Hewlett-Packard Pentium II systems, GTSI will give buyers a choice of Win98, NT
Workstation 4.0 or Santa Cruz Operation Inc.s SCO Unix, Lipkin said.
Some buyers want a Unix operating system to run PCs as servers, he said.
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