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The Homeland Security Department has chosen Microsoft Corp. as its preferred supplier of desktop computer and server software, according to a statement issued late Tuesday. The move is a significant development in the government's ongoing merger of 22 agencies and comes as officials are selecting various technology companies' products as de facto standards for the department.

The contract "establishes a key partnership relationship" between the government and Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, the statement said. The department has purchased a license for about 140,000 desktop computers and is consolidating other Microsoft agreements held by Homeland Security agencies into the five-year contract. The deal is worth $90 million.

Homeland Security employees' computers now will be outfitted with Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, as well as the Microsoft Office Professional version of software products. And perhaps most important to Homeland Security's mission to get agencies communicating more easily, Microsoft will provide the standard e-mail software for the entire department.

Months before the Homeland Security Department was established in March, officials labored over an inventory of the various software, hardware and network brands security agencies are using. Their ultimate goal has been to select one company as the sole supplier in each of several technology categories, such as e-mail or desktop computers. Microsoft's selection for such a wide range of software products would seem to indicate that officials have found those brands are used and favored by the majority of security agencies.

Dell Marketing L.P, a division of Dell Computer Corp., also was chosen to provide "day-to-day management" of the license agreement, the department's statement said. The statement didn't disclose the value of that deal. The Microsoft contract was awarded June 27.

COMMENTS

• I think it is absurd that a company whose software is the primary target of crackers and virus programs could be chosen for our Homeland Security. What other systems were considered? It obvious that the NSA's se-Linux wasn't. Probably the most secure operating system available and already paid for by our tax dollars. Now we are paying again for system that is the target of crackers and virus programmers. Not to mention the proprietary close source code that only Redmond gets to see. What kind of information will Bill Gates have access to when there is no peer review of the code that runs the systems? What cost are the taxpayers going to be subjected to now? 5 years from now? What percent increase in Microsoft Licensing fees will be tolerated? When you don't have to pay for an Operating System you can afford more hardware. I believe IBM or Hewlett Packard systems running Redhat Linux or Debian/GNU Linux with the NSA's SE-Linux kernel patch would provide for greater Home Land Security at a much better price. Robert F. Stockdale IV Posted July 18, 2003 4:10 AM
• Comments from various Reservists who work with technology, who find this less than surprising, but very amusing! --Interesting how the agency charged with providing security for all of us chose the least secure platform and server. HA! At least the Army was smart enough to go with OS X Server! --It would be interesting to know which MS Server Version they will be using. MS Windows 2003 Server which just came on the market, already has security issues and MS says they won't fix them this release. Even worse the issues are within the newly modified Browser. --That is a laugh....sort of. Looks like some good ole' fashioned backroom backslappin'. "Martinis all around please hunneh" " Call my wife and tell her I'll be late. I got some dang celebratin' to do!" GovExec.com reader Posted July 16, 2003 1:36 PM