HP will provide a range of hardware, including desktops, blade PCs, servers, and printers. The deal could be a big step up for HP; it provided only $620m in technology and services under SEWP II and SEWP III, which together ran from 1992 to January of this year.
The NASA SEWP came under fire last year from General Services Administration head Lurita Doan, who wanted to consolidate government technology procurement under the GSA. She said centralizing purchasing would allow agencies to focus on their core missions and reduce duplicative acquisition programs throughout the government.
But in December the Office of Federal Procurement Policy decided to authorize another round of NASA SEWP. The new SEWP IV program includes several classes of individual procurements, and notable vendors such as Dell, Unisys, and IBM are already on board to provide products and services.
