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The Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) has awarded a first-in-the-nation contract for the public sector that offers Commonwealth agencies options to choose Microsoft or Google platforms for email and other messaging services. The $82.5 million contract was awarded to NTT DATA, Inc. for five years, with several optional extensions.

 

“This multisolution partnership is the first of its kind in the country for the public sector,” said Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth, Nelson Moe. “Our customer agencies have distinct needs that require more options, and this competition-driven, innovative solution will allow for better customization and a feature-rich environment now and in the future.”

 

The contract provides core messaging services for Virginia’s executive branch agencies, including email, calendar, archiving, mobile device management, online storage, productivity suites and collaboration services, among others. 

 

The competitive procurement process was the first since the agency transitioned from a single-source provider business model to a multisupplier model, resulting in further maturation and adaptability across Virginia’s enterprise portfolio of services. The procurement review team, which completed the process remotely, was composed of cross-functional reviewers and subject matter experts from multiple customer agencies. 

 

“We greatly appreciate the partnership and experience-sharing that our team of internal experts and customer agencies have brought to this critical project. This multiplatform approach for messaging and collaboration was led from concept to fruition by VITA's Chief Operating Officer Jon Ozovek, Deputy Chief Operating Officer Demetrias Rodgers, Jamey Stone and Amy Pierce,” said Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Nelson Moe. “We are committed to a measured, smooth transition process for our 65 customer agencies and 55,000 executive branch colleagues across the Commonwealth.”

 

The contract outlines a robust planning and engagement process to fully integrate and implement services. Agencies will likely begin migrating to new platforms in early 2022. 

 

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The Virginia IT Agency proudly serves the Commonwealth’s 65 executive branch agencies, workforce of 55,000 state employees and 8.6 million Virginians. VITA connects Virginians to critical government services through information and innovation technology, infrastructure, cybersecurity and governance.