As part of an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, valued for IBM up to $1 billion, the US Department of the Interior (US DOI) will work with IBM to make the transformation to a cloud computing model for its IT 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.
Other US 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.
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 $100 million a year from 2016 to 2021 and then use those savings to fund investments in new business capabilities and applications.
Acquisition Advances IBM’s Investment in Cloud
The deal between IBM and the DOI is one of several contracts that the Department signed with different contractors. One of them being Lockheed Martin, who also won a cloud hosting contract valued up to $1 billion. The deals overall are worth a total of $10 billion.
At the same time Big Blue has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Trusteer, a provider of endpoint cybercrime prevention solutions that help protect organizations against financial losses and data breaches. Trusteer has its offices located in Boston and Tel Aviv, Israel. The acquisition of Trusteer advances the investment IBM is making in cloud-delivered software and services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
As part of the acquisition, IBM is forming a cybersecurity software lab in Israel that will bring together more than 200 Trusteer and IBM researchers and developers to focus on mobile and application security, advanced threat, malware, counter-fraud, and financial crimes. This lab is an addition to IBM’s existing research and development facilities in Israel.
