GSA taps BearingPoint for HSPD-12 services deal
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The General Services Administration awarded BearingPoint Inc. of McLean, Va., a five-year, $104 million contract late today to provide turnkey solutions to help agencies meet the upcoming Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12.
The General Services Administration awarded BearingPoint Inc. of McLean, Va., a five-year, $104 million contract late today to provide turnkey solutions to help agencies meet the upcoming Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12.
Under the contract, BearingPoint and GSA's recently established Managed Services Office will help agencies that sign up begin enrolling and issuing workers Personal Identity Verification cards by Oct. 27.
Initially GSA, through its Public Buildings Service division, will establish enrollment locations in four cities'Washington, New York City, Atlanta, and Seattle. From there, GSA hopes to expand to 450 locations across the country so agencies can complete their enrollment by October 2007.
BearingPoint will be responsible for enrolling employees, issuing smart cards that meet National Institute of Standards and Technology's Federal Information Processing Standard 201-1, and maintaining identification management accounts.
As an integrator, the company will have a suite of government-approved products to choose from, although to date about 10 of 21 HSPD-12 product categories do not have approved products. Products are approved after they are tested by NIST and GSA.
'BearingPoint is providing the technology, the services, and they're bringing in a team to provide those services,' said David Temoshok, director of GSA's ID Management Division.
As the Oct. 27 deadline approaches, agencies should seriously consider signing up with GSA now that it has signed the contract with BearingPoint, officials said, in order to best meet the deadline and increase the government's buying power.
'The more people sign up, the greater the discount' in prices for these services, said Michel Kareis, director of GSA's HSPD-12 program. 'The more people we have, the lower the cost to everyone participating.'
Agencies interested in using the contract must contact the Managed Services Office.
GSA officials, in announcing the award, admitted that they are on a tight timeframe to get the infrastructure in place, but they are confident that agencies will meet the deadline.
'It is an incredibly aggressive timeline and we're not going to have a lot of free time over the next couple of months,' said Michel Kareis, director of GSA's HSPD-12 program.
The officials noted that GSA has met the previous deadlines under the presidential mandate, which was issued in August 2004.
Clay Johnson, Office of Management and Budget deputy director for management, lauded the announcement. 'GSA has worked hard to ensure that we develop the necessary resources and services to successfully meet the HSPD-12 deadline and today's announcement notes another step in the right direction.'
"BearingPoint is thrilled to have been selected to provide HSPD-12 services to GSA," said company spokesman Steve Lunceford.
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