US Federal CIO reinforces IT procurement neutrality

10 Jan 2011

Source:  Information Week
U.S. CIO Vivek Kundra reminded agencies of their obligation to use neutrality when procuring technology for federal use in a memo the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released Friday. The memo  (posted on the CIO.gov Web site) comes a day after Google won a temporary order preventing the Department of Interior from awarding an estimated $59 million contract to Microsoft and deploying the software giant's cloud-based email and collaboration services. The move stems from a lawsuit Google and reseller Onix Networks filed in late October charging Interior with failing to follow federal procurement guidelines in its search for a hosted collaboration suite last year.

It's unclear whether Kundra's memo -- in which he reminds agencies that vendor neutrality "helps ensure that federal investments in IT are merit-based, improve the performance of our government and create value for the American people" -- was spurred by the lawsuit.

The Google case against Interior is not the first time the company has cried foul over what it considers unfair procurement practices by the U.S. government, but it is the first time Google has taken legal action.

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