telcos as natural leaders in cloud computing. Repeated failures on telco projects leave me dubious about such ventures. British Telecom has lost $billions on then-CEO Ben Verwayen's move into "Global Services" and in particular massive overruns and failures in the IT project for the National Health Service. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has announced a task order potentially worth up to $1 billion from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to build and transition the Department to a next-generation enterprise network known as Treasury Network (TNet).
TNet is a secure enterprise network that will facilitate the convergence of data, voice and video technologies into a single network infrastructure that supports the efficient operation of applications and services across the Treasury's entire operating environment. The $270 million task order awarded to AT&T could be worth up to $1 billion with enhanced services and other options over the life of the contract.
With the successful bid for TNet, the AT&T team has secured the first major task order awarded via the General Services Administration's (GSA) Networx Universal program, a 10-year $20 billion contract vehicle that allows AT&T Government Solutions, a business unit within AT&T, and others to provide a full range of network and telecommunications services to federal government agencies.
"As the primary steward for driving U.S. economic and financial growth, the Department of the Treasury requires the greatest level of security, interoperability and reliability for its network operations to execute this major responsibility," said Don Herring, senior vice president, AT&T Government Solutions. "AT&T is truly honored to conduct the first significant transformation under Networx for the Treasury. With our proven track record of deploying cost-effective and highly secure data networks, AT&T will help the Treasury maximize the full potential of transformation. In addition, AT&T will manage TNet for the Treasury and thus enable the agency to better focus its resources on delivering mission-critical services and supporting its bureaus."
Under the terms of the TNet order, AT&T will lead a team of experienced network transformation professionals to deploy an Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled wide area network (WAN). The backbone of this Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution will integrate 12 Treasury bureaus — from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Inspector General to the United States Mint and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — and provide an array of voice, data and managed Internet services. In addition to this high speed backbone, TNet will support 100,000-plus employees based at more than 1,000-plus locations. Key members of the AT&T team include Northrop Grumman Information Technology of McLean, Va.; Bechtel National of Frederick, Md; SRA International Inc. of Fairfax, Va; Accenture of Reston, Va.; NCR of Dayton, Ohio; and Archura of Leesburg, Va.
"AT&T's proven approach to network transformations is based on two key principles: evolving the technology within the network and optimizing how an agency uses this technology to transform the way it serves the citizens," said Jeff Mohan, Networx Program Director, AT&T. "AT&T's solution for the Treasury will become the model for how an agency can use Networx to truly transform the manner in which advanced telecommunications services are delivered to its employees. Because every transition has its challenges, AT&T's transition management approach will help the Treasury minimize these risks while helping reap the business process benefits from a transformation."
The state-of-the-art AT&T Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-enabled network is a fully managed, highly secure data network that will provide the Treasury with the standardized technology infrastructure to support the IP-enabled WAN. This MPLS network enables the Treasury to integrate existing multiple networks, applications and devices and evolve to a single, streamlined IP communications platform with consistent standards and capabilities. It also helps the agency reduce costs and deliver more advanced services to taxpayers.
The managed IP-enabled WAN solution lets the Treasury, its bureaus and their employees work remotely in a highly secure manner, which is a major benefit of teleworking. AT&T's BusinessDirect® portal provides a direct access, secure, self-service Web interface that allows Treasury employees to access product information, online ordering, billing, network operations and maintenance from virtually anywhere. In addition, AT&T will also provide wireless broadband services for the Treasury's laptop computers.
AT&T will use its networking expertise to provide services such as network engineering and design, on-site installation and proactive network management and reporting. AT&T will also provide managed telecommunications help desk services, toll-free services and call center solutions.
For decades, AT&T Government Solutions has served the communications interest of all the Treasury bureaus. For example, AT&T has managed the IRS Enterprise Remote Access Project (ERAP), which has enabled more than 26,000 IRS employees to access remote data communications via the telework initiative. ERAP is based on a fully managed AT&T VPN solution. AT&T has also conducted MPLS network deployments for the Department of Justice, the U.S. Postal Service and the Defense Information Systems Agency.
The TNet order has a time frame of 10 years, which includes a four-year base with three two-year options.