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The Virginia Information Technologies Agency announced today Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) is now providing information technology (IT) infrastructure services for state agencies.

In a “walk-in, take-over” this past weekend, SAIC assumed IT infrastructure service delivery from Northrop Grumman.

“This is a new era in IT services for state agencies and VITA,” said Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth Nelson Moe, who also serves as VITA’s agency head. “This step is one of the most significant in the commonwealth’s journey to move from a single, long-term supplier to multiple suppliers with more flexible, shorter term contracts.”

SAIC will provide infrastructure services as part of a transition assistance program (TAP) under a statement of work. TAP is designed to reduce transition risk and will permit stabilization of services for four months, until Dec. 15. When VITA moves to a multisupplier service model on Dec. 15, SAIC will serve as the multisourcing service integrator (MSI).

SAIC, based in Reston, is a technology integrator in the technical, engineering, intelligence, and enterprise information technology markets. SAIC has approximately 15,000 employees worldwide. While management of the infrastructure will change, SAIC has retained most Northrop Grumman employees who worked on the VITA program. Some of whom were state employees before moving to Northrop Grumman more than a decade ago, and their knowledge of state government and its IT systems is significant.

Suppliers providing messaging, mainframe, managed security, server/storage/data center, voice/video/network and end user services will begin to be incorporated into the multisourcing environment by SAIC. Immediate enhancements to IT services for state agencies are not planned. Enhancements will be considered after the multisupplier service model is in place.

“Preparations for this past weekend’s change to a new infrastructure provider have been underway for quite some time,” CIO Moe added. “Agencies have been involved in preparing requests for proposals, evaluating submissions and selecting suppliers. Agencies will continue to play an active role in the governance processes. The new multisourcing model relies heavily on agency participation.”

The decision to make the move to a multisupplier service model was made following adoption of a report in 2015. VITA has been moving toward the multisupplier service model since that time and remains on track for the Dec. 15 implementation. In the model, VITA retains IT oversight, governance, procurement and security responsibilities.

The results are expected to be agile services that will provide for enhancements to existing services and the addition of new services for executive branch agencies so that they may better serve citizens, businesses and visitors across the commonwealth.