IBM has announced it will work with the United States Department of the Interior (US DOI) as the department embarks on a decade long transformation of their information technology (IT) systems to a cloud computing model. As part of an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, valued for IBM up to $1 billion, the Department may use IBM cloud computing technologies, services, and hosting as the foundation of their next generation infrastructure.
IBM's solution for the DOI is based on the company's secure and high availability federal data center capabilities using open computing and process standards. The US DOI will leverage IBM expertise in data storage, secure file transfer, virtual machines, database, web hosting, development testing and SAP application hosting. The Department will also be able to tap IBM's Smart Cloud for Government hosted at the IBM Federal Data Center, the Smart Cloud for Enterprise (SCE) commercial offerings, and the very cost competitive IBM AIX Cloud.
"IBM has been delivering trusted and secure cloud services to business and government clients for decades, and working with virtualization technologies for more than 40 years," said Anne Altman, general manager, IBM U.S. Federal. "Our Cloud offerings are backed by a long history of successful work in hardware, software, and services wrapped in world renowned security offerings, unmatched R&D, and secure supply chains. We're committed to infusing these capabilities, proven security and reliability, and leading-edge technology into our work with the US Department of the Interior over the next decade."
Other U.S. government agencies can also gain access to these IBM Cloud solutions via the DOI Foundation Cloud Hosting Services vehicle. The vehicle also allows request for quotes/task orders to be issued on behalf of other government customers including both civilian agencies and the Department of Defense.
The US DOI is the steward of 20% of the nation's land. On these 500 million acres are 397 units of the national park system, 556 national wildlife refuges, 21 national conservation areas, and 16 national monuments. In addition, the department is the largest supplier and manager of water in 17 states overseeing 476 dams and 348 reservoirs; manages the land, subsurface rights and offshore areas that produce approximately 24% of the Nation's energy; and maintains relationships with 566 federally recognized Native American tribes with a population of 1.7 million people.
The sixteen bureaus and offices that manage this mission spend in excess of $1B a year on IT. In a period of declining budgets the department is shifting to a management model for IT that moves from fixed to variable, assets to services and mission impact instead of IT service metrics. The department has a public commitment to save $100M a year from 2016 to 2021 and then use those savings to fund investments in new business capabilities and applications.
