PRC's Air Force win over Control Data eyes $1.7B in HP RISC CPU's, Everex PCs

Electronic News, Oct 26, 1992 by Jack Robertson

WASHINGTON--The Air Force last week awarded PRC a potential $1.7 billion Air Force contract to integrate networks in the federal government--totaling up to 1,200 Hewlett-Packard RISC computers and up to 70,000 Everex PCs. PRC beat Control Data Systems, which was bidding its 4000 family of RISC workstations based on Silicon Graphics MIPS architecture.

HP increased its government role for new RISC computers--gaining the second huge omnibus requirements subcontract after Hughes Aircraft's win of the Navy Desktop-3 program with HP RISC computers. PRC proposed Everex and HP systems which can be ordered on an indefinite quantity, indefinite delivery basis by military and civilian agencies.

The omnibus contract allows agencies to order a network directly off the PRC contract without having to go through an individual exhaustive competitive bid, with the possibility of protests and delays.

The Air Force evaluated PRC as the winner on the potential basis of $1.7 billion for systems to be installed, but the contract contains additional options that could run the total multiyear purchases as high as $2.5 billion. Traditionally, the total amount of options aren't ordered, and the contracting activity goes out for new competitive bids midway in a contract life in order to get lower prices.

Although the Air Force said the procurement was for superminis, the HP and Everex systems will be integrated by PRC under the contract mainly for large network systems. Carl Kelly, PRC general manager of its Systems Integration division, said typical local and wide area newoks will use HP's RISC computers as servers and network managers for 64 to 156 users. Everex will supply Intel 386-and 486-based PCs as individual workstations tied into networks.

The HP systems will use its Posix-compliant version of Unix, and HP's own network software. The Santa Cruz Organization Unix software will be used for the Everex PCs, and Uniplex office automation software will also be installed. The omnibus contract also offers Oracle data base management software, with a variety of routers and gateways also available.

It was uncertain if the HP double win in the PRC contracts and Desktop-3 give the firm any help in the projected standard Army Common Hardware System-2 (CHS-2) bid. Prime EDS is bidding HP RISC computers against other major RISC architectures proposed by rivals. The Army CHS-2 bid, however, has been delayed almost two years, and it is still uncertain when RFPs might be released.