The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded a five-year contract to HP Enterprise Services to provide a department-wide, cloud computing based email and calendaring infrastructure to the VA’s 600,000 users, using Microsoft Office 365 for Government, HP announced today.
The agreement, valued at $36 million, was awarded under the Veterans Administration Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology (VA T4) program, the department’s information technology modernization contract. The modernization effort will begin with 15,000 people and expand agencywide to 600,000 people when all contract options are executed. Keep reading →
While 
During this time of budget constraints, the federal government is seeking low-priced, technically acceptable (LPTA) solutions to keep projects and innovation alive. In other words, agencies need to find ways to keep technological innovation moving forward, albeit with tighter purse strings.
With sequestration looming, and 2013 federal IT spending requests having have dropped $1 billion over fiscal year 2012 levels, contracting dollars especially for IT are expected to come under intense scrutiny, and in many cases get shuffled to meet changing needs next year.
In an important move aimed at advancing the Defense Department’s use of commercially-available mobile devices and services, the Defense Information System Agency announced it is seeking proposals to provide the U.S. Military with mobile device management capabilities and a dedicated mobile application store.
Companies selling to the government, and government managers who need to know about the latest technologies available from industry, are caught in a maze. But none of the paths leads us to one another. I’m talking about the communications channels so commonly used to exchange ideas and learn from one another.
Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif) is proposing 
Choosing the best software for soldiers on the battlefield is becoming as important as the weapons they use. But it’s also becoming an increasingly complicated supply challenge for military commanders and acquisition officials, according to defense experts.
The new computing generation has burst on the federal scene in a big way. The latest manifestation is solicitations coming from two cabinet agencies.
Pentagon Issues Buying Rules For Zombie Apocalypse (Hint: Parody)
By AOL StaffEveryone knows the global zombie apocalypse is coming soon. I’m here to tell you the military acquisition community needs to take it as seriously as the CDC does. If we’re going to survive the Day / Night / Return / Dawn / Shaun of the Living / Evil / Walking Dead, we’re gonna need some rules. For the convenience of my fellow military technologists, I respectfully offer the following:
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This story comes courtesy of our colleagues at Breaking Defense.
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Rule 1: Small Business
More than 1.05 million people are employed in the US aerospace and defense industry. These individuals are often found in big companies and are regularly described as having “big brains.” This concentration of larger than average cranial volume makes these companies prime zombie targets. The most reliable projections indicate complete zombification of all major defense contractors within 28 hours of the initial outbreak. Keep reading →