TECHNOLOGY - June 28, 1993

IBM Wins Major Army Contract: International Business Machines beat competitors GTE Corp., TRW Inc. and Electronic Data Systems for the $474-million, 10-year award to build and service a nationwide computer system for the U.S. Army. Sustaining Base Information Services will track soldiers and supplies at 128 bases across the country. Through inventory control, it could save the Army as much money as it is spending on the system, IBM said. The system will be built at IBM’s Federal Systems Co. plant in Owego, N.Y. “It’s a plum for IBM to get that system,” said Elliot Rogers, a defense industry analyst at Cowen & Co. SBIS is intended to reduce redundant quartermaster requests by tracking orders from the warehouse to the front lines.