FEMA to spend $1 Billion dollars on IT Architecture???!!!?!?

[Fleshdancer]

I'm all for a solid IT infrastructure, but that's a lot of money for just one agency. They say it's because of the flaws discovered during Hurricane Katrina, but as I recall, the failures were due to people problems not architecture problems. Wasn't this the same IT architecture that worked just fine during the natural disasters that occured under Clinton??

http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/32152-1.html

FEMA seeks IT overhaul

By Alice Lipowicz

Two and a half years after Hurricane Katrina exposed flaws in its computer systems, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing to award a contract worth up to $1 billion to overhaul its information technology architecture and software.

The agency has been receiving bids for the Enterprise Application Development Integration and Sustainment (EADIS) program to create an integrated computer environment. The new enterprise architecture will run FEMA programs, including disaster assistance, preparedness grants and individual assistance.

FEMA’s enterprise IT project is a multiyear program expected to cost at least $1 billion, according to Input Inc., a market research firm in Reston, Va. That estimate has been confirmed by several other industry and government sources.

The contract is to be awarded under the Enterprise Applications Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions (EAGLE) procurement vehicle, Input said. Bids were due Jan. 18.