NASA has awarded its giant ODIN Outsourcing Desktop Initiative for NASA contract to seven companies. The multi-billion dollar contract, which NASA styles as the boldest move any federal agency has made in an effort to outsource computers, consists of a new set of procurement procedures providing one set of contracts across the agency, dealing with contracts worth between a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of over $13bn. The companies who have won the right to participate in the new process are Boeing Information Services Inc, Computer Sciences Corp, Dyncorp Techserv LLC, FDC Technologies Inc, OAO Corp, RMS Information Systems Inc and Wang Government Systems Inc. The actual value of ODIN contracts won’t be known until NASA centers place the first orders with vendors, with the first expected before October 1. Under ODIN, each NASA center will place orders exclusively with one vendor, following computer and communications capabilities defined at the Agency. Other government agencies will be able to use ODIN through the General Services Administration, as an alternative to the GSA’s usual Seat Management contracts.
