Defense Supply Center Gets One-Stop Support
22 Mar 2007
EDS has been supporting the Defense Supply Center Richmond for more than nine years
What started out as EDS supporting a client with basic, nuts-and-bolts mainframe operations has evolved over nine years to a one-stop shop of technical support.
The Defense Supply Center Richmond (DSCR), part of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), is the lead center for aviation weapon systems and environmental logistics support. From there, more than 1.2 million repair parts and operating supplies are shipped to U.S. Department of Defense locations around the world. The materiel ranges from critical, safety-of-flight air frame structural components to bearings, lubricating oils and precision instruments.
EDS Provides Client Support in Specialty Areas
EDS first won a contract to support DSCR in 1998. Over the years, EDS has helped the organization in developing a command-wide 24x7 help desk, providing technical expertise in information assurance (IA), administering systems on various platforms, and providing legacy system management leading to modernization efforts.
“We support our client at all levels,” said EDS Account Manager Karen Overall. “We provide assistance to users at their desks, manage the systems that run critical applications, and provide expert technical advice at the headquarters level.”
The EDS team helps to ensure proper integration in a secure configuration of every piece of IT equipment prior to implementation. EDS provides system administration to a myriad of applications, servers and network devices as well as the management of databases on those servers.
At DSCR, another role provided by EDS is consultation in information assurance. The IA team is responsible for protecting and defending information systems and the information on them by ensuring availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality and non-repudiation.
“Karen and her team have gained the client’s confidence and grown the business,” said Client Delivery Executive Reid Everly. “They’ve done a good job of integrating to become part of the DSCR team, not just the contractor, and that’s important.”
A complete IT support center
EDS’ help desk supports more than 300 applications for over 4,000 desktops and laptops, says Manager Dan Mahle. It’s not the typical call-center operation, however.
“We not only handle incoming calls, but we also handle field support,” he said. “If we can’t resolve the problem over the phone, we have a technician go to the user’s desk and repair the problem. That person could be on-site at DSCR or at one of the satellite facilities.”
Mahle said one of the unique aspects of the help desk is that it supports flexible workplace personnel, or DSCR employees who work exclusively from their home. The help desk also has a loaner laptop and projector pool, and handles personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones and pagers. There is one technician who works in the IT warehouse, where surplus equipment is maintained and repaired. Technicians with security clearances help with Internet protocol routing networks used for both non-classified and classified information. When devices go off warranty and need to be replaced, the EDS team takes on that huge task, including training for the new equipment.
“We handle almost anything related to desktop or laptop support,” Mahle said. “For a lack of a better word they call us the help desk, but we’re really an IT support center.”
“We work very closely with our customer on many complex issues,” he continued. “It’s become a partnership.“
Monitoring internal infrastructure for applications and hardware
Drew Bainbridge was a career Marine who worked at several companies before coming to EDS in 2001. He has been involved with technology since 1968 – “I’ve been in computers since they were called ADP, now it’s called IT.” Currently he manages DSCR’s computer operations, with 13 operators and two system administrators.
Bainbridge’s team monitors the internal infrastructure for applications and hardware at the DSCR and at its enterprise data center (EDC). Remote entry jobs for a Defense Information Systems Agency mainframe also come through the team. EDS has helped improve operations, such as revamping logs and designing and prototyping an automated log written in Oracle with a Web front end. That allows the DSCR staff to research a problem in minutes instead of weeks.
“The branch chief in charge of all operations appreciates the amount of work we’ve done,” Bainbridge said. “Our error rate has gone down to almost zilch. We have people who care about their job and the client, and really understand the job.”
Maps for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
One system the Operations team monitors is for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which provides imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial data and information through the DLA. The maps are used by both government and commercial clients, including all commercial airports in the world.
EDS supports an automated distribution and mapping system running on that mainframe system. It is maintained, and will be modernized by, another part of the EDS team at DSCR. These contracts involve application maintenance, database administration support and system administration for the legacy system.
To provide modernization, EDS’ Oracle/Java experts are working hand-in-hand with the legacy system experts and the users to design a replacement system utilizing new technology. It will be developed leveraging technology such as Web services and based on current business requirements gathered from the users, and incorporating the best practices from the legacy system.
The EDS Account Team expects nothing but the best
Since 1998, the EDS account team has grown from 12 individuals to 75 employees and contractors supporting thousands of DSCR users and their customers. EDS recently won five recompete contracts, indicating a strong team performance.
What makes it all work so well?
“The success of the account is due to talented people making an impression on the client through their dedication and achievements,” said Overall. “It’s a simple formula – find the right people to comprise the team, give them the latitude to do the job and expect nothing but the best.”