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The Homeland Security Department continues to work toward integrating processes for acquiring information technology, but the effort remains challenging, in part because of disparate policies from the legacy agencies that formed the department, officials said Thursday.

For instance, "unfortunately, there is not a single standard" on whether foreign companies can do business with the department's various agencies, said William Thoreen, procurement officer for DHS' Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions (EAGLE). He said this in response to a question from an Australian audience member following a speech for the Association for Federal Information Resources Management, a professional group for technology contractors. Thoreen said DHS spends as much as $6 billion annually on IT acquisitions alone.

Another attendee asked Thoreen if DHS' protocol for rejecting a contractor was as simple as a verbal notification. The contractor, who did not identify himself, said he was not offered a written rejection.

"That's not the way it's supposed to work," Thoreen said, adding that he found the story alarming.

Sara Schroerlucke, program director for DHS' Enterprise Solutions Office, said that since the department's 2003 inception, it has fought to better coordinate purchases through its various agencies.

ESO's first procurements were through EAGLE and another program, called First Source and designed for purchases of IT equipment. DHS aims to ensure that no duplicative orders are made by agencies operating independently of one another, she said.

While the business model used by ESO is primarily directed at better aligning the procurement activities of separate agencies within DHS, it also can help DHS coordinate with outside departments, Schroerlucke said. Typically, it would have to be in the case of an emergency, but DHS may share its IT procurement mechanisms with other agencies, she said.

"We will look at that on a case-by-case basis," Schroerlucke said.

The winners of First Source contracts will be announced by the end of November, Schroerlucke said. Companies have placed bids to provide IT software and equipment, and imaging and wireless technology through the contract vehicles. DHS officials did not comment by press time on how much money is at stake.

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