NCI Information Systems Inc. announced it has won a 2-year $89 million contract with the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command to provide IT fit-out services for its new headquarters in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Under the contract, NCI will deliver IT and audiovisual engineering services to enhance the new and state-of-the-art INSCOM Secure Admin Operating Facility. It’ll include powerful visualization displays to give the Army real-time awareness and support mission command of operational intelligence and security forces.
“In these times of rapidly evolving threat landscapes, the need for our customers to have immediate visibility of all current IT systems in one location is a critical part of ensuring continual operations for our nation’s defense mission,” said Paul Dillahay, president and CEO of NCI.
Ultimately, those tools will give commanders visibility to a holistic view of intelligence information displayed on a single pane of glass.
And that’s crucial, added Chuck Hicks, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of NCI, as INSCOM is currently spread out through different buildings.
“This, when it’s completed, will bring them into one building, which you would think that should make the ability to interact easier and with the latest technologies,” he said.
That solution will look like a ceiling-to-floor command center wall with more than 200 display flat panel televisions showcasing real-time operations information.
NCI will also provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, transportation, tools, supervision and nonpersonal services necessary to perform IT and AV systems engineering, procurement, installation, testing and turnover. The company will start its first installation by the end of September, Hicks said.
But this isn’t NCI’s entree into command center upgrades, IT and network modernizations. In fact, it has a long legacy of similar work and this contract falls right in its alleyway, Dillahay said.
“It’s right smack in the middle of what our core business does,” he added.
NCI has been investing in artificial intelligence in terms of pure AI and AI-enabled opportunities, and INSCOM has been an NCI customer for 30 years, he said.
“It’s our longest legacy customer, and we’re excited by the win,” Dillahay added.
The company is also a commercial solutions for classified trusted solutions integrator, a certification granted through the National Security Agency and critical to win this award. The program is designed to quickly deliver secure cybersecurity solutions leveraging commercial technologies and products, and is committed to helping INSCOM deliver on its mission in support of Army, joint forces and coalition commands, and the national intelligence community.
According to Hicks, that certification also requires a higher level clearance, which also means high-level engineers and installers.
“It’s a very diverse and dynamic team,” he said.
With a full IT and AV solution, NCI is working with 190,000 square feet, which includes everything from data center routers, a complete data center, the switches and the servers, to the AV on the walls, within the auditorium and throughout offices.
“Currently, we have an order going in for about 200 server racks, and that’s just the start,” Hicks said. “It’s a pretty extensive build out.”
Plus, the win is going to enable INSCOM to make the right decisions, in the right amount of time, while collaborating with multiple agencies, he said.
“We are extremely proud to be supporting the Army INSCOM mission of enabling the right decisions at the right time, while collaborating with multiple agencies to defend our country,” Dillahay said. “We look forward to deploying a truly remarkable, new kind of modernized IT environment that will support the needs of the Army’s SAOF today, and tomorrow.: