From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Jul 6 00:32:04 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 20:32:04 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Report: Prices for industrial space soar Message-ID: <20070705203157.P1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 5 July 2007 ; North County Times Report: Prices for industrial space soar http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/07/04/business/news/18_38_167_3_07.txt --- By BRADLEY J. FIKES Industrial property rental and sales prices have hit record highs throughout San Diego County, according to a new report from CB Richard Ellis. However, weakening demand should prevent prices from rising further during the rest of the year. "As a result, rental rates will likely remain flat throughout the remainder of the year," Rob Merkin, CB Richard Ellis senior vice president, stated in the second-quarter report. Over the last three years, rents have increased 30 percent for industrial and research and development properties, the report stated. North County's market could benefit from its relatively lower prices in these categories, said Merkin and another commercial real estate expert, Greg Lewis, a senior associate at Burnham Real Estate. Large companies based in central San Diego are likely to take research and development space in North County instead of pricier central San Diego, Lewis said. "SAIC's a good example," Lewis said of the San Diego-based defense and technology giant. "They just signed for 120,000 square feet in Vista in an R&D building. Two or three years ago, that would be kind of unheard of, for a company as central as SAIC to come up to Vista." Merkin said SAIC wanted to locate its building in Rancho Bernardo or Poway, but just wasn't able to find the space it needed at an affordable price. While one example does not make a trend, he cautioned, the price disparities are so great that other companies may follow. Some developers are already shifting industrial construction to outlying areas, Merkin said. These include Temecula and other locations in the Inland Empire, and Otay Mesa in the extreme southern part of San Diego County. According to the CB Richard Ellis report, North County's average asking lease rate is $1.01 per square foot, compared with $1.45 in central San Diego County. Vista's lease rate is 83 cents per square foot, while San Marcos' is 78 cents. North County has about 47 million square feet of available industrial property with a vacancy rate of 9 percent. The central county area has 88 million square feet and a 5.2 percent vacancy rate. Vista has 12.3 million square feet and a vacancy rate of 7.4 percent; Carlsbad, 13.1 million square feet with a vacancy rate of 12.5 percent; and Oceanside has 6.9 million square feet with a 13.4 percent vacancy rate. Escondido, with 6.8 million square feet, had just a 3.3 percent vacancy rate. "You've also got issues around general business conditions," Merkin said. "It's not just the cost of real estate. Other factors are transportation costs, the cost of gasoline and costs of labor in this market ... the affordability of homes and also the shipping costs." The report found that the higher prices, along with stricter lending requirements and rising interest rates, have slowed demand for industrial and R&D properties. However, increasing construction costs and a limited supply of available land is restricting supply, the report stated. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Sat Jul 7 14:59:42 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 10:59:42 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Signs Agreement to Acquire Benham Investment Holdings, LLC Message-ID: <20070707105936.C1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 6 July 2007 ; CNN Money SAIC Signs Agreement to Acquire Benham Investment Holdings, LLC http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NEF01006072007-1.htm --- SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., July 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Science Applications International Corporation announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Benham Investment Holdings, LLC (Benham) and its subsidiaries. Benham is an engineering and life-cycle technology implementation firm that serves federal government and Fortune 500(R) commercial customers. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Benham offers a full range of capabilities in consulting, engineering, architecture and design/build, including specialized expertise in energy management, industrial manufacturing and facilities, software development and integration, alternative fuels and process engineering, and advanced visualization and communication systems. "For Benham, this alignment provides an operating platform for leveraging its capabilities in facilities planning and design, technology integration and design/build project delivery," said Rainey Williams, a member of the Board of Benham Investment Holdings. "Further, it will help increase Benham's business in strategic areas where application of technology presents compelling business opportunities." Benham employs approximately 800 people supporting clients in locations across the U.S., including Norman, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa, Okla.; St. Louis, Mo.; St. Paul, Minn.; and Detroit, Mich. "The acquisition of Benham will accelerate SAIC's growth in the energy management services market with both federal and commercial customers," said Joe Craver, president of SAIC's Infrastructure, Logistics and Product Solutions Group. "Benham's expertise in energy project design, implementation, and monitoring and reporting, combined with SAIC's core capabilities in energy consulting, research and development, and risk management, creates an end-to- end solution for the energy market. The capabilities they bring will allow us to efficiently integrate and implement solutions that are designed to deliver high value to our customers. We look forward to welcoming the Benham employees to the SAIC team." The acquisition is expected to close in August 2007, subject to customary closing conditions, including expiration of the waiting period under the Hart- Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Upon completion of the acquisition, Benham and its subsidiaries, including The Benham Companies and Benham Constructors, will become subsidiaries of SAIC. Benham's headquarters will remain in Oklahoma City. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Sat Jul 7 15:00:48 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 11:00:48 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC and Kent University partner to meet the challenges of the international biometrics market Message-ID: <20070707110040.T1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 7 July 2007 ; Security Park SAIC and Kent University partner to meet the challenges of the international biometrics market http://www.securitypark.co.uk/security_article259742.html --- The University of Kent and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) are to collaborate on biometrics and identity management projects. The collaboration was agreed via the signing of a Letter of Intent at the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) supported 'Trade Force Mission' reception in Washington DC on Monday 25 June. UKTI facilitated the introduction of SAIC and the University of Kent at the highly successful 'Science for Security' mission in November 2006 and has supported their collaboration over the past eight months. The signatories were Carole Barron, Director of Enterprise at the University of Kent and John Christensen, Vice-President of Corporate Business Development at SAIC. The collaboration will involve SAIC and the University working to meet the challenges of the international biometrics market. The benefits for SAIC include direct interaction through UKBI (United Kingdom Biometrics Institute - a University of Kent initiative) with the UK's academic research base, industry, government agencies and the European biometrics community. Carole Barron said: 'We are delighted to be embarking on what we expect to be a very rewarding collaboration with SAIC. The development of this exciting collaboration is a reflection of the world-class reputation for the University's research in the area of biometrics and identity management. We are looking forward to building on this international collaboration with one of the world's largest systems, solutions and technical services companies to address challenges facing the world today in human identity management.' John Christensen added: 'UKTI has been instrumental in bringing together the University of Kent and SAIC. This Letter of Intent forms a basis for continued collaboration between SAIC and UKBI. We look forward to contributing to the accelerated transfer of biometrics and identity management technology from academia into deployable solutions.' Professor Michael Fairhurst, Head of the Department of Electronics at the University of Kent and a co-founder of UKBI, said: 'This is extremely good news for the University, but it also demonstrates the enormous value of UKBI in stimulating opportunities to extend the reach of the established strengths of the UK biometrics community.' Melinda Goforth, Head of UKTI at the British Embassy, Washington DC, added: 'UKTI is delighted to work with both SAIC and the United Kingdom Biometrics Institute at the University of Kent. This type of collaboration between government, industry and academia is an extraordinary example of how we can work together to foster innovation.' From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Jul 9 00:46:54 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 20:46:54 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Connolly's Two Roles Provoke Questions Message-ID: <20070708204432.P1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 8 July 2007 ; Washington Post Connolly's Two Roles Provoke Questions http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/07/AR2007070700966.html --- Tysons Corner Firm Employs Chairman Of Fairfax Board By Bill Turque Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, July 8, 2007; Page A01 Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) often reminds residents that they have two representatives: their elected supervisor and himself, the only board member who runs at large. Connolly also represents another constituency, one he serves from a 12th-floor office overlooking Route 7 in Tysons Corner, where he is vice president of community relations for Science Applications International Corp. The San Diego-based research and engineering company, which does billions of dollars of work for the nation's defense, intelligence and homeland security agencies, is the Washington area's fourth-largest private employer with 16,000 workers, 3,500 of them in a four-building complex in Tysons. Critics cite no evidence that Connolly's employment has violated Virginia conflict of interest laws, which bar elected officials from accepting any business or professional opportunity that could influence their decisions. But they ask whether it is healthy for the county's chief elected official to be employed by a company with such a prominent stake in Tysons and Fairfax. Connolly has been an outspoken advocate for the proposed Metro extension to Dulles International Airport, a project with benefits for Fairfax but also one that could place an underground station almost directly in front of SAIC's offices, significantly increasing the property value. SAIC is also a stakeholder in decisions soon to be made by a board-appointed county task force looking at land use in Tysons. The panel is expected to recommend to the supervisors that the company be allowed to build more densely on its land as a result of the rail line. Connolly said he has been assiduous about keeping his public and private roles separate. "I've been very careful to avoid even the appearance of conflict," he said. Neither Connolly nor company officials would discuss his compensation from SAIC. His statement of economic interests, filed annually with the county clerk, says only that he makes more than $10,000 a year. He also holds SAIC stock worth $50,000 to $250,000. Asked about his compensation, Connolly said: "None of your business. So long as I can't live on a supervisor's salary, I have tried to find employment with no conflict and no overlap. I'm entitled to earn a living." Other Fairfax board chairmen have held outside jobs to supplement the elected post's salary, which rises from $59,000 to $75,000 in January. U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman from 1991 to 1994, worked as an attorney for PRC, a Fairfax-based tech company that had several contracts with the county government. Davis has said he had nothing to do with those contracts. Three other supervisors maintain part-time jobs or outside business interests: Penelope A. Gross (D-Mason) is recording secretary for the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union; Gerald W. Hyland (D-Mount Vernon) operates a farm and a law firm; and Elaine N. McConnell (R-Springfield) owns Accotink Academy, a preschool and kindergarten. Connolly's dual roles have raised questions of conflict and overlap. "It's a problem of appearances," said Mark J. Rozell, professor of public policy at George Mason University. "People in leadership positions are correctly expected to hold to a much higher standard. . . . There is a presumption that they are neutral to various interests that want access to government policymakers." Susan Turner, a Democrat and second vice president of the McLean Citizens Association, watches land-use matters in the county closely. She is among those troubled by the arrangement. "I think it's totally inappropriate," she said. "I think he's benefiting financially from the success of SAIC, which will benefit from having a rail station there." Company officials said they have neither sought nor gained benefits from employing Connolly, who was hired in September 2002 as SAIC's first community relations director in the Washington area. His boss, Arnold L. Punaro, a SAIC executive vice president, said Connolly was attractive not as a local elected official but for his knowledge of government and corporate worlds as a past staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and vice president at the Washington office of SRI International, a consulting firm. SAIC, which does work for state and local governments, has no active contracts with Fairfax. Punaro said that it will not bid for any as long as Connolly holds office. "We're very sensitive to the issue of his status on the Fairfax County board," Punaro said. Although the post of board chairman is legally part time, Connolly is well known for his marathon weeks of meetings, hearings, receptions and speeches. For the past five years, he estimates, he has also spent 20 to 30 hours a week managing SAIC's sponsorship of events such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation walk on the Mall, an annual high school robotics competition and a "technology tent" at the county fair, which features company-sponsored fireworks. Company officials said Connolly also offers advice on emergency preparedness and human resources issues and represents SAIC on the board of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce. Connolly, who bills the company on an hourly basis, said that it is a substantive, demanding job but that he is able to move between his public and private roles by working seven-day weeks. "I have been able to juggle the two," he said. One source of speculation about Connolly's relationship with SAIC involves the proposed placement of a Metro station near its offices, on Route 7 northwest of Route 123 (Chain Bridge Road). Connolly said he never involved himself in discussions about the stop, one of four in Tysons envisioned for the Dulles extension. A 1994 amendment to the county's comprehensive plan, adopted by the board a year before Connolly was first elected, called for rail stations in three general locations: Route 123 at Westgate Drive, Route 123 between Tysons I and II and Route 7 west of Westpark Drive, at least three-tenths of a mile from the SAIC complex. County planners said that in 2000, as they studied alternatives for rail in Tysons, it became clear that a fourth station was needed at Routes 7 and 123 to accommodate growth. "It seemed logical to put another station on Route 7," said former Fairfax transportation director Young Ho Chang. "The current location seemed to offer us the kind of accessibility we wanted." Chang said that locating the fourth station was strictly a staff exercise, with no involvement from Connolly, other board members or SAIC. The new station, known as Tysons Central 7, became part of the plan -- known as the "locally preferred alternative" -- approved by the board Oct. 28, 2002. The vote was a key step toward getting federal money for the $5 billion project, currently under review by the Federal Transit Administration. Connolly voted for the station alignment without disclosing to the board that he had been hired by SAIC that September. He said he didn't think it was relevant. "It frankly hadn't occurred to me that it was an issue," he said. "When we voted on the LPA, I had no awareness that there was a change in the location of the station." Connolly also said his employment by SAIC was already public knowledge, having been announced in an Oct. 9 company news release. He said that County Attorney David P. Bobzien was aware of his new job status but raised no concerns. During the debate that preceded the October 2002 vote, Connolly stressed the importance of the rail extension and said it would allow major Tysons landowners such as Booz Allen Hamilton, WestGroup, Lerner Properties and SAIC to cluster properties around the stations. "Here is an opportunity for us to get it right," he said. Punaro, who handles SAIC's real estate affairs, said the company had no role in siting the station. SAIC also has a stake in the deliberations of the three-year-old Tysons land-use task force, which is headed by Clark Tyler, a transportation and economic development consultant for SAIC. The panel is likely to recommend to the supervisors additional density rights for SAIC and other Tysons businesses along the rail line. Tyler said he has had no contact with the company regarding the task force. On Bobzien's advice, Connolly did disclose his SAIC work before voting with the board to create a special taxing district -- one that included his employer -- to finance the Dulles rail project. "Chairman Connolly said that he has been an advocate for rail for a long time and declared that he is able to participate in this hearing fairly, objectively and in the pblic interest," say the minutes of the Feb. 23, 2004, board meeting. Cotionship with SAIC is not the only instance in which his private employment has overlapped with his on January 2003, he joined the rest of the board in a 9 to 0 vote to approve WestGroup's plan for foursons on the edge of McLean. Connolly was the project's main supporter, over the concerns of residentup hadn't prvided for adequate road improvements. In September 2003, The Washington Post reported tid consulting work in 2001 for a company run by Peter J. Halpin, son of Gerald T. Halpin, WestGroup'onnolly disclosed the position on his annual financial statement but did not tell his board colleagu before the January vote. Connolly said that Bobzien told him that Virginia law does not require disclosure, because Connolly was a consultant, not an employee, and because the company, World Resources, did not do business directly with the county. After the article was published, then-Supervisor Stuart Mendelsohn (R-Dranesville) proposed that the matter be referred to Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. for guidance on what kind of outside employment was permissible. The motion failed 8 to 2, with Mendelsohn and Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) supporting it. Connolly has recuser occasions, such as when the board approved a plan for 570 apartments and townhouses on SAIC-ownedllows Road in March 2003. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Jul 9 00:48:08 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 20:48:08 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] A Look at SAIC Message-ID: <20070708204801.X1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 8 July 2007 ; Washington Post A Look at SAIC http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/07/AR2007070700967.html --- Sunday, July 8, 2007; Page A10 Government contractor Science Applications International Corp., where Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly works, is the Washington area's fourth-largest private employer. Here's what it does: SAIC provides scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and products to the U.S. military, the intelligence community, the Department of Homeland Security, other civil agencies and clients in select commercial markets. Major projects include a joint venture with Bechtel to build a radioactive waste repository in Nevada, a contract with Homeland Security to develop a screening system for cargo containers and a multinational effort to develop a theater ballistic missile defense for NATO. Employees owned the 38-year-old company until October, when it went public. SAIC was criticized for its work in Iraq, where it had contracts to establish a TV news operation and advise the oil industry. The contracts were criticized by the Pentagon inspector general for lack of competitive bidding and poor results. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Jul 9 20:51:42 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 16:51:42 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Top Defense Contractors Are Now Small Businesses Under New SBA Policy Message-ID: <20070709165134.O1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 9 July 2007 ; Market Wire Top Defense Contractors Are Now Small Businesses Under New SBA Policy http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=274994 --- PETALUMA, CA -- The following is a statement by the American Small Business League: On June 30th, a Small Business Administration policy went into effect that will allow the federal government to count hundreds of contracts to many of the nation's largest defense and aerospace contractors as federal small business contracts through 2012. The SBA's new five-year grandfathering/five-year re-certification policy will allow the federal government to include billions of dollars in contracts to firms like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon, SAIC, L3 Communications and General Dynamics towards the government's 23 percent small business contracting goal. In 2005, the SBA included over $650 million in government contracts to defense giant L3 Communications towards the government's small business contracting goal. For 2006, the SBA reported over $500 million to SAIC as small business contracts. Small business owners around the country are outraged at the new policy and are pledging to take their complaints to Congress and federal court. When the SBA originally proposed their grandfathering plan in 2005, it would have allowed the SBA to continue to report awards to any firm that had small business contracts towards the federal government's 23 percent small business procurement goal for five more years. This would have included: small business contracts found by the SBA Inspector General as being fraudulently obtained, contracts to large businesses the SBA acknowledged were miscoded as small business contracts, contracts to large businesses that had accidentally claimed small business status, contracts to firms that had outgrown their small business status and contracts to firms that had been acquired by a large business. When the SBA asked for public comment on the proposed policy in 2005, they were bombarded with over 6000 angry comments opposing the grandfathering policy. Small business owners and small business groups, including the NFIB and Chambers of Commerce across the country, were strongly opposed to the proposed plan. Even after the SBA received an overwhelmingly negative response to the proposed policy, SBA spokespersons told reporters for the Miami Herald and the Chicago Tribune in June of 2005 that the SBA still intended to implement the five-year grandfathering plan. Shortly after new SBA Administrator Steven Preston was confirmed, he directed that the unpopular five-year grandfathering policy be renamed five-year re-certification and implemented. The net effect of the five-year re-certification and the five-year grandfathering policy are identical. Under the five-year re-certification policy, the same large businesses that would have benefited from the five-year grandfathering policy will be allowed to maintain their small business status until the year 2012. This will allow the SBA to continue to report contracts to hundreds of Fortune 1000 firms and other large businesses as small business awards for at least five more years. SBA critics like the American Small Business League believe the real purpose of the SBA's five-year grandfathering/five-year re-certification policy is to artificially inflate the federal government's small business contracting statistics to create the false impression that the government has reached the Congressionally mandated 23 percent small business contracting goal. ASBL estimates if the policy is allowed to take full effect, legitimate small businesses across America could lose over $300 billion in federal small business contracts over the next five years. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Jul 10 21:23:15 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 17:23:15 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] App Development Has a Serious Side Message-ID: <20070710172301.G1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 10 July 2007 ; eWeek App Development Has a Serious Side http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2156563,00.asp --- When it comes to developing applications for the government, the return on investment can sometimes be life or death. Such was the sobering task facing application developer and systems integrator Science Applications International, or SAIC, as it went to upgrade the IBM Rational development tools used to support one of its most sensitive clients, the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency, or DISA. A seamless transition and a flawless outcome are paramount when dealing with the combat support agency responsible for defense-related networking serving U.S. troops on the front lines as well as the president, the secretary of defense and the Pentagon. "You want to make sure the developers who are working on things that could save someone on the battlefield have the tools and capabilities they need when they need them," said Cynthia Carr, configuration management manager at SAIC, in Falls Church, Va. "This is serious business." Indeed, software development in the government sector is not for the faint of heart. Pitfalls and obstacles abound when building applications that must stand up to ever-shifting regulatory compliance issues and still deliver improved processes and measurable ROI. Add defense and national security concerns, and the challenges only mount. Yet, it's in this developers' cauldron of public-sector applications that SAIC chooses to focus in a continuing trial by fire. The $7.8 billion San Diego-based company works primarily for national and homeland security agencies as well as organizations focused on energy, the environment, space, telecommunications and health care. "It could be tanks, missile systems, or, as in SAIC's case, back-end IT applications," said Swati Moran, aerospace and defense marketing manager for IBM Rational software, in McLean, Va. "The challenges are similar. When you deal with defense, you deal with significant compliance and governance needs. Every software processes issue is mission-critical." SAIC has been working with DISA since March 2006 on ACTDs (Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations), through which developers augment and combine off-the-shelf technologies to improve safety, security and communications for America's war fighters, Carr said. The contract runs through September. At DISA, SAIC's engineers were convinced that the government agency needed to bolster communication and collaboration among developers and improve the overall development process with an upgrade to DISA's existing IBM Rational software tool suite. "DISA had purchased the whole Rational suite but were really only using ClearCase," Carr said. "We knew the developers could do more whiz-bang things if they used the full capabilities of the tool set. The new versions support more development platforms such as Eclipse, which we're using on all of our programs. They can move effortlessly between programs, and that enhances the design system." To ensure the full platform upgrade to Version 6 went smoothly and with a minimum of downtime, SAIC turned to an integration partner the company felt knew the Rational platform best--IBM's own Rational Services group--to manage the project, Carr said. "We wanted to make sure that because programs were up and running that we didn't bring down the old versions that were in use," she said. "We needed IBM to help us with the integration. We needed their technical expertise to get us to the level that we are now." IBM's Rational Services team began the project by analyzing SAIC's DISA systems to identify areas for process improvement. The team then upgraded DISA's IBM Rational ClearCase, IBM Rational ClearQuest and IBM RequisitePro tools to the newest versions. The upgrading and integration of RequisitePro paid immediate dividends by improving developers' ability to communicate project goals, enhance collaborative development, reduce project risk and increase the quality of applications before deployment, SAIC officials said. In addition, the IBM services team installed IBM Rational TestManager software to provide a central console for test activity management, execution and reporting, with graphic and text reports capturing crucial aspects of application quality and testing. The software gives both the systems integrator and the client a better overall view of all projects and procedures, said SAIC officials. SAIC also urged DISA to take advantage of the upgrade as a chance to streamline help desk procedures and identify any unknown weak spots in the system. To that end, IBM and SAIC developed a help desk schema to document system changes and to prevent duplicated efforts from multiple employees. According to SAIC officials, the new help desk schema has increased employee productivity by 15 percent per week. As part of that effort, the IBM team created a new defect- and enhancement-tracking process, built on Rational ClearQuest, to automate and enforce development processes as well as provide deeper insight and more predictability and control across the software-development life cycle. The IBM team paid specific attention to ensuring that the Rational ClearCase tool was seamlessly integrated with Rational ClearQuest to provide a complete software configuration management system, Moran said. "The change schema in the help desk and the ability to report problems with software bugs or tools speeds the resolution of problems, and it keeps folks working and keeps their productivity high," Carr said. "When you can't produce work orders in this way, people are sitting around doing nothing waiting for a response or walking around trying to resolve an issue with someone else who may not even be in the same building." DISA's Rational ClearCase software is running on Unix servers from Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard on Sun's Solaris operating system. The Rational ClearQuest, RequisitePro and TestManager tools are running on a Microsoft Windows-based platform, officials said. Since the IBM team integrated all Rational software tools in the DISA deployment, the organization for the first time has been able to fully leverage all the tool's features and realize the maximum benefit of the integrated platform, increasing the suite's business value, Carr said. The implementation itself really evolved over the course of the project, she said. "What was needed right away was to bring ClearQuest on board to give them the change management system they were asking for. And if we're going to do that, why not bring them up on everything." According to IBM's Moran, the goal of such projects is to blur the lines not only among segments of development within agencies such as DISA but also to tear down the walls between the agency and contractors such as SAIC. "If you have the silo approach, nothing is tracked, changes aren't recorded and applications often fail," Moran said. "The nature of distributed teams like these is that, ultimately, they need to share the risk of what the agency is trying to build. Collaboration is key." Going forward, SAIC is working to transition the development platform over to DISA. The systems integrator is already recommending a second upgrade to Version 7 of the Rational tools once a handful of ongoing critical development projects are completed. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Jul 19 23:32:45 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:32:45 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Arotech's FAAC Subsidiary Receives $2.8M Order for Additional Stryker Common Driver Trainers Message-ID: <20070719193239.U1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 16 July 2007 ; CNN Money Arotech's FAAC Subsidiary Receives $2.8M Order for Additional Stryker Common Driver Trainers http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0278182.htm --- Arotech Corporation (NASDAQ: ARTX) announced today that its Simulation and Training Division's FAAC subsidiary has received an order to produce five additional Stryker Driving Simulators from Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE: SAI), the prime contractor for the Army's Common Driver Trainer (CDT) program. FAAC is a subcontractor to SAIC on the CDT program. FAAC responsibilities include the development, production, integration, delivery, and training of the simulator units. SAIC provides contractual management and is responsible for the visual database and the integration of the Army's OneSAF (semi-automated forces). The CDT Contractor team of SAIC and FAAC are currently completing the fielding of the initial order for nine Stryker simulators. "The Common Driver Trainer Program is recognized as the Army's choice for any new driver-training requirements for wheeled and tracked vehicles," said MAJ Dan Gamel, CDT Project Director, US Army PEO STRI PM Ground Combat Tactical Trainer. "The successful development of CDT and the initial variant for Stryker has validated the Common Driver Trainer concept, enabling production-only efforts like this order for additional Stryker Trainers, as well as laying the foundation for straight-forward extension of the CDT to simulate other vehicles in the future." "We are proud to contribute to the success of CDT and work as part of the CDT Team providing training devices to prepare Stryker operators to face the challenges of tactical combat operations," said Kurt Flosky, FAAC Executive Vice President. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Jul 19 23:37:59 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:37:59 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Contracts for 7/18/2007 Message-ID: <20070719193750.C1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 18 July 2007 ; United States Department of Defense Contracts for 7/18/2007 http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=3561 --- CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense No. 891-07 FOR RELEASE AT July 18, 2007 Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public/Industry(703) 428-0711 CONTRACTS NAVY [...] Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif.; Northtrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp., Defense Mission Systems Division, Herndon, Va.; Stanley Associates, Inc., Arlington, Va.; and Alion Science and Technology Corp., Chicago, Ill., are being awarded $23,100,000 for indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price, time and material pricing provisions, multiple contracts for support services for independent research, technical, and analytical support to commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force in the definition, conduct, and analysis of structured operational and integrated test and evaluation of a vast array of weapons systems, integrated systems, and equipment to support the fleet sailor. This contract four one-year option periods, which if exercised would bring the value of the contract to a ceiling price of $115,500,000. Work will be performed in a variety of locations throughout the Continental United States with provision for Afloat and Outside-of-the-Continental United States locations as needed. Work is expected to be completed July 2008 (July 2012 with options). Contract funds in the amount of $4,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured through under full and open competition and solicited through the Government-wide Points of Entry, Navy Electronic Commerce On-line, and the Federal Business Opportunities Web sites, with four offers received. The Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Norfolk Office is the contracting activity (N00189-07-D-0102, N00189-07-D-0104, N00189-07-D-0105, N00189-07-D-0106) [...] From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Jul 19 23:42:47 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:42:47 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Hire a small business: Perhaps Lockheed or SAIC Message-ID: <20070719194227.N1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 18 July 2007 ; Federal Times Hire a small business: Perhaps Lockheed or SAIC http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=2909018 --- Industry giants still eligible for preferences -- for now By ELISE CASTELLI and M.Z. HEMINGWAY No one would consider Science Applications International Corp. a small business. The San Diego-based science, technology and intelligence giant earned $7.8 billion last year, has more than 44,000 employees worldwide, and ranks as the nation's ninth largest defense contractor. It is a Fortune 500 company. Yet, SAIC was one of the top recipients of government-awarded small-business contracts last year -- totaling $512 million -- according to federal procurement data, as analyzed by the market research firm Eagle Eye Publishers of Fairfax, Va. Other top small-business contractors from last year: General Dynamics ranked at number 17; L-3 Communications Holdings at number 20; Lockheed Martin Corp. at 22; and GTSI at 37. Each year the government awards these and other large companies billions of dollars in contracts intended for small businesses. The total amount of small business contracts the government misdirected last year has not yet been tallied, but the figure is almost certainly in the billions of dollars -- in 2005, the figure was almost $12 billion. These misdirected contracts and task orders typically fall into four categories. Many end up going to companies that had once been small businesses but which grew into large businesses or that were acquired by large corporations. Some aren't given to companies at all, but rather to state or local governments or nonprofits. And in some cases, agency contracting officials simply miscode contract awards by mistake as being small-business awards. There is no single definition for what SBA considers a small business. SBA has a 42-page guide outlining the different definitions for each industry sector. Size definitions in some cases are measured by average number of employees, in other cases, by average revenues over three years. For example, the size standards for most manufacturing, engineering and research work range between 500 to 1,000 employees. However, for administrative and educational services, companies are considered small if they earn average revenues of between $3.5 million and $32.5 million annually. Agencies have considerable incentive to play loose with the rules governing the award of small-business contracts: They are obligated by law to award 23 percent of their contract dollars to small businesses. The problem is that when $12 billion in small-business contracts is misdirected to non-small businesses, that money does not contribute to the development of small businesses as the law intended. Now, the Small Business Administration aims to crack down on the problem. On July 1, after a four-year effort, the agency put into effect new rules intended to close loopholes that permit large companies to win and keep small-business contracts. Two days later, the SBA Administrator Steven Preston wrote to the CEOs of the top 800 contractors, asking them to voluntarily identify small-business contracts they hold with the government and to recertify them as "other than small." "With your cooperation, we can correct remaining discrepancies so that all large firms are removed from the small-business database within the year," SBA's Preston told the CEOs in the letter. Arthur Collins, the SBA's director of government contracting, said he thinks the new rules and Preston's appeal to the corporate community will fix the problem of misdirected small-business contracts within the next year or so. Small-business community advocates say the measures don't go far enough and are fraught with loopholes. The problem Many contracts were awarded properly to small businesses, either as procurements specifically set aside for small businesses or through traditional procurements. But many of those contracts were for long terms -- 10 or 20 years in some cases. During the course of those contracts, those small companies either grew into large companies or were bought by large companies. However, the contracts continued being counted by the government as small-business contracts. That means when a federal agency would issue a task order on an existing small-business contract or would renew an option to extend that contract, it counted as a small-business procurement -- even if that company no longer qualified for the designation. "Long-term contracts" include multiple-award contracts, governmentwide acquisition contracts and General Services Administration schedules, all of which allow agencies to place multiple orders with a vendor without having to start new procurements, SBA's Collins said. Last year government spent 52 percent of its contracting dollars through long-term contracts, according to the Office of Management and Budget. An example of the problem is ViaSat Inc., a military communications contractor in Carlsbad, Calif., which sits at number 74 on the top small-business contractors list. It received $96 million in small-business contract revenues last year, according to Eagle Eye Publisher's list. But the company is hardly small -- it has more than a thousand employees, offices in six countries and annual revenues of more than $430 million. The company no longer advertises itself as a small business but is ranked as such in the government's contracting database because it was a small business seven years ago when it won a $12 million Pentagon contract for a battlefield data collection system. At the time, it had 400 employees and revenues of $75 million. ViaSat is a small firm that grew, a classic Small Business Administration success story. But it also represents what the SBA inspector general has called the top procurement challenge in federal government: large businesses getting small-business awards and agencies getting small-business contracting credit for it. In his letter to corporate CEOs this month, the SBA's Preston acknowledged the problem: "For many years, regulations have allowed government agencies to count contracts as .small' for the life of the contract, even if the small business was subsequently purchased by a larger firm. This policy was appropriate when typical contracts had a short life, from one to five years. But today, major small-business contracts run for up to 20 years, leading some to question the classification of almost $12 billion in federal small-business contracts. Preston said the vast majority" of those contracts in question belong to small companies that were subsequently purchased by large corporations, or were miscoding errors when contracts were awarded to a small division or subsidiary of a large corporation. For their part, large corporations who receive small-business contract revenues say the problem of misdirected and miscoded small-business revenues lies with the government, not them. "We're not competing as a small business, we're obviously not a small business," said Rob Doolittle, a spokesman for General Dynamics. "I'm confident that we're in compliance with regulations as they're written." Doolittle said GD is included on the list because companies it has acquired are classified as small businesses and in the midst of contracts. Lockheed Martin spokesman Scott Lusk responded similarly: "We don't compete as a small business, but we have acquired companies that had small business contracts." Babak Nouri, the assistant vice president and director of small business at SAIC, said the company is reviewing Preston's letter and considering whether to comply. He added there is a large administrative burden in complying with the request. The fix In the past, businesses awarded a contract when they were small could keep their size status for the life of the contract, even if the business was bought by a larger firm or became a bigger firm itself. Under the new rules, small businesses holding government contracts must recertify their size after the first five years of a contract and every time the government exercises a contract option after year five. The new rules also require companies to recertify their standing within 30 days of any acquisition or merger with another company. "We want to ensure good, genuine opportunities are available for small firms," Collins said. The new recertification rules apply to the long-term contracts already in existence, meaning it won't be long before the government scrubs its database of large businesses representing themselves as small, Collins said. "We feel over the next 12 to 15 months we'll purge the database of contracts that have fallen into this category," he said. Loopholes remain Small business advocates contend the new rules will do little to achieve the results Collins promises. The rules will let large firms already benefiting from their small-business acquisitions to continue to do so for at least the next five years, said Lloyd Chapman, president of the American Small Business League. Without mandating recertification for small companies already merged into large firms, big businesses will rob small businesses of $300 billion in business over the next five years, Chapman said. "They're already reporting awards to Fortune 1000 corporations as small businesses and adopted polices to continue to allow the diverting of billions meant for small businesses to the largest companies in the world," Chapman said. "The policy will bankrupt thousands of small businesses." Two small business advocates in Congress agree. "This recertification rule fails to address 80 percent of the problem with miscoded contracts," said Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Small Business Committee. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee, has scheduled a hearing Wednesday on small-business recertification. "Five years still leaves a pretty big hole," Kerry said in a statement. He said he would like to see alternate recertification periods that is fewer than five years, but not as potentially burdensome on small business as annual recertification could be. Exceptions Despite the new rules, some large firms -- firms with more than 500 employees -- can still be counted as legitimate small businesses because they have partial certifications as small businesses, said Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president of FedSources Inc., a federal market research and consulting firm in McLean, Va. These partial certifications are allowed because each industry sectors has its own definition of what constitutes a small businesses. This occurs mostly in large industrial areas such as telecommunications, aircraft manufacturing and scientific research, Bjorklund said. "The government is doing some gaming with codes because it wants a class of companies, but it also wants to get credit for small business," Bjorklund said. For example, Honeywell, a 118,000 employee technology and manufacturing firm that generated $31 billion in sales last year, is considered a small business for several products, including communication equipment and aircraft parts. Last year, Honeywell brought in $162 million that otherwise would have gone to small firms, according to FedSources data. The government could do more to reach its small-business goals by pursuing more set-aside awards for small and disadvantaged businesses, Bjorklund said. By the way, if you're wondering who is the top company on the small business contractors list, it's Chugach Alaska Corp. of Anchorage, Alaska. The company, which provides everything from base operating services to telecommunications and educational services, has more than 6,300 employees worldwide and received $658 million in small business contract revenues last year. In all, the company boasts total revenues of more than $890 million last year. --- Amy Doolittle contributed to this article. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Jul 19 23:43:55 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:43:55 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC, Northrop Complete Amsec Split Message-ID: <20070719194342.R1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 16 July 2007 ; Forbes (AP) SAIC, Northrop Complete Amsec Split http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/16/ap3916490.html --- SAN DIEGO -- SAIC said Monday it completed splitting into two companies Amsec LLC, a joint venture with shipbuilder Northrop Grumman Corp. that provides engineering, logistics and technical support services to U.S. Navy ship and aviation programs. The split of Amsec was first announced a month ago. Under the terms, SAIC received the aviation, combat systems and strike force integration businesses. Northrop retained ship engineering, logistics and technical services businesses, as well as the Amsec name. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Jul 19 23:48:50 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:48:50 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Big firms get rich as Iraq war escalates Message-ID: <20070719194617.M1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 19 July 2007 ; Workers World Big firms get rich as Iraq war escalates http://www.workers.org/2007/world/iraq-0726 --- Time to mobilize anti-war forces By Deirdre Griswold The debate over the war in Iraq has finally made it onto the agenda of the Senate! But not at a time when funding for the war is up for a vote. A majority of Congress, including most Democrats, already voted to approve those hundreds of billions of dollars. The current debate is over an amendment to the appropriations bill, put forward by Democratic Senators Carl Levin of Michigan and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, that would begin to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 180 days (six months) of enactment and complete a reduction of troop strength--but not a total withdrawal--by April 30, 2008. This debate is finally happening after the electorate has in many, many ways expressed its utter disgust with the war, the occupation and both political parties for letting the carnage drag on despite the immense pain and suffering it has meant for the Iraqi people and many in the U.S. Especially hit here is the working class, which pays for wars in blood and taxes while the rich generally do quite well as war spending oozes through the upper layers of the economy. The senators also must know that calls are heard more and more frequently to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney because these two lied to the world about Iraq's mythical weapons of mass destruction. Every online discussion having to do with the war or the White House--except those on bizarrely ultra-right Web sites--rings with colorful denunciations of these political figures. However, there's an elephant in the room that still seems to elude most of the lawmakers and the media. It concerns what the war is really all about. Not just personalities There are criticisms galore of Bush's IQ, his lack of tact, his cowboy style, his refusal to compromise or bend to bring others on board. Cheney is raked over the coals for his Machiavellian manipulations. Other administration figures from the klavern of neocons are excoriated for being too ideological. But you seldom hear the issue that gets raised at every anti-war demonstration. What about the immense oil profits that Bush and Cheney promised their wealthy backers would flow into their coffers once Iraq had fallen? How much is being said about that in Congress, or on prime time? The world understands very well what this war is about, but it's a non-subject in official Washington and Medialand. For example, here's an item you probably didn't see on television: On July 16, about 300 oil industry workers in the port city of Basra, Iraq, took their lives into their hands to protest a proposed new law--drafted by U.S. "specialists" and "advisers"--that these workers say would allow foreigners to "pillage the country's wealth." This important demonstration got no coverage in the U.S. media, but was reported by the French press agency AFP. "To compensate for the military and political failure of the U.S. administration in Iraq, this administration is trying to control the country's wealth," the organizers said in a statement distributed to reporters, as they carried black coffins labeled "freedom." "If this is endorsed by the parliament it would abolish sovereignty and hand over the wealth of this generation and the generations to come as a gift to the occupier," the statement said. "This law, in fact destroys the achievements of the Iraqi masses and especially the Law number 80 of 1961 and the nationalization of 1973"--legislation that sharply limited foreign involvement in the oil sector, enacted after Iraq broke free of colonial domination. The very same social forces that had hoped to profit immensely off this war own the politicians and the media. Their failure to talk about this is not because of some narrow conspiracy hatched by a few individuals--it is the way everything functions in a society where money capital reigns supreme. The immense popularity of the film "Sicko" shows that millions now realize that health care is a mess because of the profit motive. Is there any reason to think that warfare is somehow more altruistic? In fact, this war and the many other imperialist interventions known euphemistically as "national defense" represent an immense feeding trough for the well-connected. Web of industry, gov't & military This was illustrated most graphically in a story that did break into the media in a very limited way recently. It is the story of a corporation that most people never heard of but that is awarded more lucrative government contracts for "defense" and "national security" than any other. The company is Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC). Right, you say, never heard of it. But you've heard of Boeing, right? General Electric? Halliburton? Lockheed Martin? Well, SAIC gets more government contracts than any of them. Last year it sucked up over $8 billion in public money. And it has more than 44,000 employees. SAIC provides "experts," especially in high-tech fields. It was SAIC employees who tried to create economic chaos and bring down the government of Venezuela in 2003 by sabotaging the terminals where the oil was loaded onto tankers for export. The media here called it a "strike" by oil workers, but in fact the real workers--not the high-paid managers on SAIC's payroll--were the ones who figured out how to manually put the oil facilities back online after their bosses had shut down the computers that controlled everything. In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, one of the most vociferous and ubiquitous figures arguing on television for "regime change" to get rid of "Saddam's weapons of mass destruction" was David A. Kay, identified as an expert on counterterrorism. Kay was an executive of SAIC. Two investigative journalists--Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele--dug out information about SAIC and wrote it up for the March 2007 issue of Vanity Fair. Recently, the PBS program Expos ran a half-hour special on the company. In the Vanity Fair article, entitled "Washington's $8 Billion Shadow," Barlett and Steele wrote that "SAIC executives have been involved at every stage of the life cycle of the war in Iraq. SAIC personnel were instrumental in pressing the case that weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraq in the first place, and that war was the only way to get rid of them. Then, as war became inevitable, SAIC secured contracts for a broad range of operations in soon-to-be-occupied Iraq. When no weapons of mass destruction were found, SAIC personnel staffed the commission that was set up to investigate how American intelligence could have been so disastrously wrong." This article explains that much of the running of the U.S. imperialist government's "dirty tricks" and its military adventures abroad has been privatized. Operations that used to be handled by the CIA or the Pentagon are now farmed out to companies like SAIC, which pull in billions of dollars every year devising and carrying out plans to control the economies of oppressed countries and, if necessary, use military force against them so U.S. big business can exploit their resources and labor. They are not subject to congressional oversight and can operate pretty much as they please. In Iraq, SAIC got the U.S. contract to build a "democratic media" after the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime. Its Iraqi Media Network became such an obvious mouthpiece for the Pentagon, says the Vanity Fair article, that soon Iraqis "openly snickered at the programming." These companies have close relations with the oil monopolies, the big banks, defense contractors and all the government agencies in the business of warfare and "counterterrorism." In fact, SAIC set up its Center for Counterterrorism Technology and Analysis several years before 9/11, describing it to potential investors as a growth industry. SAIC is much bigger than just the neocons in the Bush administration. Its bipartisan board of directors has included former CIA directors like John M. Deutsch, appointed by Bill Clinton, and Robert M. Gates, appointed by the current Bush's father. In the present Bush administration, Gates is now secretary of defense, having replaced Donald Rumsfeld. Other members of the SAIC board have included Melvin Laird, Richard Nixon's secretary of defense, and Rear Adm. Bobby Ray Inman, director of the National Security Agency under President Jimmy Carter and a deputy director of the CIA under Ronald Reagan. Inman was also on the board of the Rockefeller-founded Council on Foreign Relations. The Rockefellers, let it never be forgotten, originally got their money from Standard Oil and then spread out into banking. It is this unholy trinity of big business, the government and the military/intelligence establishment that continues to drive the war in Iraq--or Iran or Afghanistan or Palestine or wherever it suits their interests. SAIC not affected by elections One former SAIC manager said in a recent blog posting: "My observation is that the impact of national elections on the business climate for SAIC has been minimal. The emphasis on where federal spending occurs usually shifts, but total federal spending never decreases. SAIC has always continued to grow despite changes in the political leadership in Washington." Marine Gen. Peter Pace said on July 16 that the Joint Chiefs of Staff is weighing a range of possible new directions in Iraq, including an even bigger troop buildup, if Bush deems it necessary. The U.S. Air Force has been building up its equipment inside Iraq, including the monster B1-B bomber. It has sharply stepped up bombing and has laid a foundation for a sustained air campaign, according to a July 15 AP dispatch. Already, there is an increase in "collateral damage" among Iraqi civilians. Half the warships in the U.S. Navy are now in the waters around Iran and Iraq. When one of those ships, the USS Nimitz, made a five-day port call to Chenai in southern India in early July, it was met by massive protests. Keeping their eyes on these hard facts and not being diverted by false hopes about change in Washington, some anti-war groups are now planning militant actions for the fall. In both D.C. and Los Angeles, the week of Sept. 22-29 will see encampments, called by the Troops Out Now Coalition (troopsoutnow.org) and endorsed by hundreds more, that will take the anti-war struggle back to the streets and link it to the growing war at home of racism, poverty and repression. On Saturday, Sept. 29, massive mobilizations are planned in both cities. The time could not be more critical. The power to stop the carnage lies with the people, not the politicians. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Jul 20 11:06:37 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 07:06:37 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] FCS Industry Team to Initiate Production Planning Message-ID: <20070720070622.O1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 20 July 2007 ; WebWire FCS Industry Team to Initiate Production Planning http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=42714 --- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and partner Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Lead Systems Integrator for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, today announced that the Army has authorized planning for FCS low-rate initial production, including long-lead items for the first FCS capability Spin Out and Manned Ground Vehicle (MGV) early production units. The latter is focused on the Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) initial production platform, which will be fielded in 2010 according to a Congressional mandate. "The Army's notification to proceed with early production planning for Spin Outs and Manned Ground Vehicles is evidence that FCS technologies are maturing according to plan and represents a crucial step toward meeting program production objectives," said Dennis Muilenburg, vice president-general manager, Boeing Combat Systems, and FCS program manager. "It underscores the significant accomplishments of the entire FCS One Team which continues to perform and is well-positioned to deliver these early life-saving capabilities to our soldiers as quickly as possible." Three FCS Spin Outs to the current force will be initiated in two-year increments starting in 2008 when the FCS team delivers the first infusion of capability to the Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF) in Fort Bliss, Texas, for testing. The first, referred to as "Spin Out 1", consists of equipment and technologies that will provide enhanced situational awareness and communication capabilities for the Current Force through technology insertions to Abrams battle tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and HMMWV vehicles. Spin Out 1 elements include network integration "B" kits consisting of an Integrated Computer System, System-of-Systems Common Operating Environment, Battle Command and Network Management software and communications system including the Joint Tactical Radio System Ground Mobile Radio. Also included are Tactical and Urban Unattended Ground Sensors to provide real-time threat information in complex terrain, and the Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System for remotely controlled precision fires. A recent Critical Design Review of Spin Out 1 technologies confirmed that they meet design requirements and are ready for integration into current force vehicles and the AETF. Low-rate initial production for Spin Out 1 will support the procurement of 17 Brigade Combat Team sets to be fielded incrementally over a period of seven years, beginning in fiscal year 2008. FCS MGVs, developed in partnership with BAE Systems and General Dynamics, will provide the Army with a new family of networked vehicles with enhanced armor and protection technology, and next-generation survivability and sustainability features that are required for successful and decisive future battlefield operations. Based on a common chassis, FCS MGVs will be more than 70 percent common, reducing spare parts and logistics costs. The NLOS-C will be the first of the eight MGV variants to be developed and fielded as part of the FCS program. It is designed to provide a networked, extended range precision attack capability against point and area targets in support of FCS Brigade Combat Teams. Plans call for 18 NLOS-C initial production platforms to be delivered between fiscal years 2010 and 2012 at a rate of six per year, in advance of the Milestone C and low-rate initial production decisions in 2013. The LSI, in partnership with BAE Systems and General Dynamics, plans to employ various sites for component subassembly, and final vehicle integration, assembly and test activities will be conducted, including Elgin, Okla.; Lima, Ohio; and York, Pa. Once integration and assembly are complete, the NLOS-C vehicles will undergo cannon verification testing at Fort Sill, Okla., then be transferred to Fort Bliss, Texas, and White Sands Missile Range, N.M., for system-of-systems verification testing conducted by the AETF. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Jul 20 20:36:04 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 16:36:04 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Warns of Possible Data Breach Message-ID: <20070720163558.K1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 20 July 2007 ; Houston Chronicle SAIC Warns of Possible Data Breach http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4984717.html --- WASHINGTON -- Pentagon contractor SAIC Inc. may have compromised personal information about more than half a million military personnel and their relatives because it did not encrypt data transmitted online. SAIC said Friday it has not found any evidence that the information _ names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers and health information _ was accessed by unauthorized people. "But we can't rule that possibility out," said Melissa Koskovich, a spokeswoman for SAIC. SAIC provides technical services for a health benefits program used by active military personnel, retirees and their families. This is not SAIC's first cyber-security problem. In January 2005, thieves broke into a facility and stole computers containing names, Social Security numbers and other information about past and current employees, according to nonprofit consumer organization Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. SAIC is investigating how the latest incident occurred with help from a third party it did not name. An unspecified number of employees have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Koskovich said. She could not say how long the probe would take. SAIC said the problem occurred when it transmitted online, without encryption, information about 580,000 military households that is maintained on an unsecured server in Shalimar, Fla. A household may represent more than one person, the company said. Cyber-security analyst Bob Schmid of the New York-based New Media Institute said when data is compromised at large corporations it is usually the result of internal technology lapses, not outsiders trying to break in. "Some institutions are so very, very large that they don't know where all their pieces are," said Schmid. The company said it was notified on May 29 by the U.S. Air Forces in Europe that it had detected an unsecured transmission of the information. SAIC said it has fixed the security problems and advised potentially affected people. SAIC has hired Kroll Inc., a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., to help military families deal with potential identify theft issues, Koskovich said. Bank of America analyst Gregory Wowkun said in a research note Friday that SAIC told him that Kroll's services would cost SAIC $7 million to $9 million in its fiscal second quarter. Wowkun reduced by a penny his estimate for SAIC's second-quarter profit. SAIC processes health information for military personnel under a contract with the Army, Navy, Air Force and Department of Homeland Security. A spokesman for the Pentagon could not immediately comment on the security breach. Shares of SAIC fell 6 cents to $18.29 in midday trading. --- AP Business Writer Jeremy Herron in New York contributed to this report. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Jul 24 11:15:37 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:15:37 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Contracts for 7/23/2007 Message-ID: <20070724071527.J1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 24 July 2007 ; United States Department of Defense Contracts for 7/23/2007 --- CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense No. 909-07 FOR RELEASE AT July 23, 2007 Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public/Industry(703) 428-0711 CONTRACTS DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Scientific Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a maximum $200,000,000.00 fixed price with economic price adjustment, integrated prime vendor contract for the material and material management of benchstock items. Other locations of performance are North Carolina and Florida.Using services are Navy. There were 12 proposals originally solicited with 4 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is the 1st option year being exercised.Date of performance completion is July 22, 2009. Contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), Philadelphia, Pa. (SPM500-04-D-BP13). [...] Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $9,143,000 one-year follow-on contract under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-reimbursement contract (N66001-04-D-2504) to exercise an option to provide support for the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC), San Diego, to include studies of symptoms, morbidity, hospitalizations, reproductive outcomes, mortality, and other health-related issues among service members and Department of Defense beneficiary populations. The original two-year contract included three one-year options, and this award represents exercising of the second option year. The cumulative potential value of the contract, if the third option is exercised, is $45,000,000. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif. (90 percent) and at NHRC Detachment at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio (10 percent), and is expected to be completed July 2008. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Jul 25 01:23:15 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:23:15 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] TANDBERG and SAIC Sign Strategic Joint Marketing Agreement Message-ID: <20070724212259.T1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 24 July 2007 ; Business Wire TANDBERG and SAIC Sign Strategic Joint Marketing Agreement http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070724005438&newsLang=en --- Companies to Jointly Deliver End-to-End Integrated Collaboration Solutions RESTON, Va. -- TANDBERG, a global leader in visual communication, announced today that it has signed a joint marketing agreement to provide collaboration solutions and services with Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE:SAI), a leading provider of scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and solutions. Under the agreement, the companies will jointly pursue business opportunities -- offering integrated video-based collaboration solutions. Working together, TANDBERG and SAIC intend to deliver robust, enterprise-wide communications solutions that combine TANDBERG's world-class videoconferencing technology with SAIC's equally high caliber of integration, consulting and support services. TANDBERG and SAIC are joining forces to support government agencies' increasing requirement for end-to-end, integrated collaboration solutions. Combined, TANDBERG videoconferencing technology and SAIC consulting, integration and support will offer organizations solutions that enable both day-to-day and emergency situation communications, including continuity of operations, robust telework programs and overall remote collaboration. Through this agreement, TANDBERG and SAIC will empower their customers to implement advanced intelligence gathering and analysis tools, as well as knowledge management applications and employee training programs. "This relationship enables our mutual customers to realize the benefits of natural communication -- visually connecting employees in the field, across offices, and around the globe as if they were all in the same room," said Joel Brunson, president, TANDBERG Federal. "We're proud to join forces with SAIC and together empower Federal agencies with the ability to communicate face-to-face regardless of geographic location." "Collaboration defines today's global operating environment -- demanding that organizations can readily and easily connect dispersed team members in real time," said Larry Cox, SAIC senior vice president and general manager of SAIC's Intelligence and Information Solutions Business Unit. "Working with TANDBERG, we will strive to develop and deliver leading-edge solutions that address today's communication and collaboration requirements while laying the groundwork to address future demands." About TANDBERG TANDBERG is a leading global provider of visual communication products and services with dual headquarters in New York and Norway. TANDBERG designs, develops and markets systems and software for video, voice and data. The company provides sales, support and value-added services in more than 90 countries worldwide. Please visit www.tandberg.com for more information. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Jul 26 02:57:34 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:57:34 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Contracts for 7/25/2007 Message-ID: <20070725225728.L1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 25 July 2007 ; United States Department of Defense Contracts for 7/25/2007 http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=3566 --- CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense No. 921-07 FOR RELEASE AT July 25, 2007 Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public/Industry(703) 428-0711 CONTRACTS DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Science Applications International Corp., Fairfield, N.J., is being awarded a maximum $40,000,000.00 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies and related services. This contract is exercising second one-year option. Using services are Defense Logistics Agency. The original proposal was solicited on FedBizOps with 6 responses. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Date of performance completion is July 28, 2008. Contracting activity is Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP), Philadelphia, Pa. (SPM500-04-D-BP12). From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Jul 27 10:43:18 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 06:43:18 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Fortune 500 Defense Contractor to Build in Indiana Message-ID: <20070727064134.K1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 27 July 2007 ; Inside INdiana Business Fortune 500 Defense Contractor to Build in Indiana http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=24638 --- BY Raquel Bahamonde Science Applications International Corp., a Fortune 500 defense contractor, is breaking ground today at the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park on a new $4 million facility, which expects to create up to 75 new jobs. Governor Mitch Daniels will join executives of WestGate @ Crane Development Co. to also break ground on a new business incubator and accelerator building. WestGate Partner Dale Ankrom says the company is close to signing deals with three tenants for the building. Ankrom says the demand for the park is growing and his company thinks there could be up to 30 new buildings added over the next three years. Ankrom says a $35 million investment by WestGate will bring other development to the park, including a hotel, retail shops and walking trails. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Jul 31 22:25:40 2007 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (Daily SAIC News) Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:25:40 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Unit Gets $91M Navy Deal Message-ID: <20070731182534.C1802-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 31 July 2007 ; Forbes (AP) SAIC Unit Gets $91M Navy Deal http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/31/ap3971995.html --- SAN DIEGO -- Science Applications International Corp. said Tuesday one of its subsidiaries won a Navy contract for up to $91 million to provide technical services for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center. Eagan McAllister Associates Inc. will provide technical services including system engineering, technical support, training, among others, under the one-year deal. The contract comes with four one-year options to extend the length of the pact. Work under the contract will be performed in Charleston, S.C. and Norfolk, Va. Shares of SAIC (NYSE: SAI) fell 7 cents to $17.25 in afternoon trading.