Defense Department Briefs
Emmett Paige Jr., assistant secretary of Defense for command, control, communications and computers, is determined to ensure that all new military systems comply with the evolving Defense Information Infrastructure's Common Operating Environment. An outgrowth of the COE developed by the Defense Information Systems Agency for the Global Command and Control Systems, the DII COE will seek to assure interoperability among disparate administrative and support systems through specifications that are considerably narrower than DISA's Technical Architecture
Emmett Paige Jr., assistant secretary of Defense for command, control, communications
and computers, is determined to ensure that all new military systems comply with the
evolving Defense Information Infrastructure's Common Operating Environment.
An outgrowth of the COE developed by the Defense Information Systems Agency for the
Global Command and Control Systems, the DII COE will seek to assure interoperability among
disparate administrative and support systems through specifications that are considerably
narrower than DISA's Technical Architecture for Information Management (TAFIM) standards.
""It's not going to be a shell game or a play on words,'' Paige recently told
GCN. ""We're going to be right there with a hammer to make sure that [new
systems] comply with the concepts that are espoused in the COE.'' DISA hopes to release a
version of the new specs in July.
The Navy's beleaguered New Technologies for Office and Portable Systems buy, once
billed as a fast-track, no-discussions, award-by-Christmas 1995 buy, lurched closer toward
contract award last month.
The latest concern, involving the Navy's methods for judging adherence to the Buy
American Act provisions in the request for proposals, was dealt with in the solicitation's
13th amendment issued Jan. 30. Best-and-final offers must be in by mid-March, according to
a Naval Information Systems Management Center spokesman. Contract award is scheduled for
April. Most bidders are expected to offer Pentium PCs and portables for NTOPS.
Under a new basic ordering agreement with DISA, BTG Inc. will sell Netscape
Communications Corp. products to Defense Department customers at discounts averaging 40
percent off list prices.
That would put the price of a single copy of Netscape's Navigator version 1.x at about
$29, or just $14 in quantities of 1,000. The Vienna, Va., company will offer a 28 percent
discount on Netscape's Commerce Server, which lets users set up a home page with secure
transaction capabilities. The discounted server software price is $3,650. Netscape
Navigator version 2.O will be out in late February at slightly higher prices, and all
versions will be available for electronic downloading from DISA.
The BTG agreement is part of a DISA effort to establish enterprise licensing agreements
with software manufacturers and vendors. BTG officials said they are representing several
other major vendors in negotiations for DOD license agreements.
GE Information Services in Rockville, Md., is offering DOD's 11 regional Electronic
Commerce Resource Centers (ECRCs) access to its Electronic Bid Board. With a free user
number and QuickBid software designed by CACI Inc., vendors can browse a database of all
federal requests for quotes as well as file bids on line. Federal users can tap the system
to analyze quotes and compare prices. Call 800-742-4852 for more information.