Virginia signs $300m enterprise apps deal with CGI-AMS
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The commonwealth of Virginia has awarded a seven-year contract expected to be worth as much as $300 million to CGI-AMS to implement enterprise applications across the state's business and IT systems.
The commonwealth of Virginia has awarded a seven-year contract expected to be worth as much as $300 million to CGI-AMS to implement enterprise applications across the state's business and IT systems.
The Virginia Enterprise Applications Architecture project is half of the state's multibillion-dollar IT Transformation Initiative. Northrop Grumman Corp. won the IT overhaul portion in a 10-year, $2 billion contract awarded in November.
The enterprise applications project with CGI-AMS of Fairfax, Va., a subsidiary of CGI Group Inc. of Montreal, will have two optional three-year renewal periods. No dollar value was given for the option periods.
CGI-AMS will consolidate and modernize the Old Dominion's financial, human resources, supply chain and administrative management processes. The initiative initially will focus on Virginia's executive branch agencies, and could be used in the future by the judicial and legislative branches, as well as educational institutions.
CGI-AMS' teammates on the project include SiloSmashers Inc. of Fairfax, Va.; Maximus Inc. of Reston, Va.; and GC Services of Houston.
Gov. Mark Warner called the project groundbreaking, and the largest business process and technology consolidation project in the country.
CGI-AMS and its partners will immediately begin work on the enterprise applications initiative by deploying managed services for collections and cost recovery. The services are expected to produce revenue that will at least partially finance the program in the long run, the company said in a statement.
The project will have three phases, each of which will include performance-driven benchmarks and is subject to review, approval and appropriation by the General Assembly.
A due-diligence survey and analysis conducted by the commonwealth and the competing contractors in May 2005 found that the state currently spends $308 million each year for 26 business processes conducted through 250 separate systems across 46 agencies.
When these costs are extrapolated to include the rest of the state's executive branch, they are estimated at $441 million annually. CGI-AMS has estimated a potential savings of $125 million in staffing and license/maintenance fees over the seven-year agreement.
The state's technology transformation projects were awarded using the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act, a law the state passed three years ago that altered the bidding process to give contractors more room to propose creative ideas and solutions. Initially established for education facilities and infrastructure projects, it was subsequently modified to include technology infrastructure as well.
Ethan Butterfield is a staff writer for Government Computer News' sister publication Washington Technology.