22 February 2010 | Nick Martindale

IBM has won a $74.4 million (£48.1 million) eight-year deal to upgrade the procurement system used by US federal agencies and their suppliers.

The IT services company will design and implement a standard package which will be used by the US General Services Administration’s (GSA) “integrated acquisition environment” to source equipment and other services, including IT and telecoms.

The GSA is the largest procurement agency in the US, overseeing an annual spend in excess of $60 billion (£39 billion). It aims to maximise the buying power of government offices.

Hundreds of thousands of civilian and defence staff will use the IBM package to source information about approved products and providers, while suppliers will be able to register their interest as contractors and provide reports on the progress of projects.

Charles Prow, managing partner at IBM Global Business Services, public sector, said: “The GSA continues to play a central role in transforming the government’s procurement process, making it easier and more cost-effective for federal agencies to acquire products and services. IBM is very pleased to support this important initiative.”

The new system will replace nine applications currently used by the GSA, with the aim of increasing efficiency and delivering operational savings.

Security company Northrop Grumman, Vertex Information and Computer Consulting Services and Collins Consulting will also work with IBM on the project.