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CAN THIS BE COINCIDENCE? DELL COMPUTER GETS

$248 MILLION VA CONTRACT -- The VA's former

Chief Information Officer had led Dell's

government sales operation.

 

 

Today we learned that Dell Computer just got a contract from the VA worth a quarter of a billion dollars.

I don't believe in coincidence.  As an old news guy, I can tell you there is NO such thing as coincidence!

Let's backtrack a bit.

This story involves a gentleman named Robert McFarland.

McFarland made a name for himself at Dell Computer as the executive in charge of government sales.

McFarland left Dell, and in January 2004 he was named VA's CIO (Chief Information Officer).

In April 2006, McFarland left the VA.

Today...a contract worth $248,000,000 is awarded to Dell.

A contract this large can take years to put together.  It is not done on the spur of the moment.

We can assume that this contract was in the works while McFarland was CIO at the VA.

Again...I don't believe in coincidence.

For more on Robert McFarland's rocky career at the VA, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/
sessearch.php?q=robert+
mcfarland&op=ph

Today's story here... http://www.information
week.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?
articleID=201800336

Story below:

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VA Gets Tech Boost, Dell Gets Massive Contract

The three-year contract includes 249,000 computers for agency employees who serve nearly 75 million people eligible for veterans' services and benefits

By K.C. Jones
InformationWeek

Dell on Wednesday said it has obtained one of its largest government contracts through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dell said that the VA awarded the company a $248 million, three-year contract for computers, services and technology deployment. Under the agreement, Dell will provide 249,000 computers for agency employees who serve nearly 75 million people eligible for veterans' services and benefits.

The employees will receive Dell OptiPlex desktop computers and monitors. Dell will also provide the agency with deployment, asset management and asset removal services, at lease-end. Dell said that the nationwide deployment will allow the company to play a significant role in serving the needs of current and future veterans, while simplifying "an otherwise complex information-technology rollout."

Under the agreement, the company will partner with disabled veterans who own small businesses to provide deployment services to them as well.

"This program will help the VA achieve its mission of caring for our nation's veterans," Troy West, vice president of Dell Federal, said in a prepared statement. "As the exclusive PC provider for the department, we look forward to supporting the agency as it meets the needs of veterans now and into the future." The United States counts about 25 million veterans. The VA provides a wide variety of services to those veterans, as well as their spouses and children. The services include medical care, educational grants, vocational rehabilitation, home loans, survivor benefits, and burial assistance.

The VA has been heavily criticized for its technology problems, especially those that pertain to security. The theft of a VA laptop last year threatened to expose the personal data of all of the nation's veterans and their dependents. Reviews of procedures revealed a lack of proper encryption techniques and policy failures within the department.

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Larry Scott  --