IBM Banned from US Government contracts

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,413
616
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I heard about this yesterday but thought it was a Aprils fools joke. but its not. Government contracts get protested all the time when somebody looses one, i know my company has done it many times, I wonder what IBM did to piss off the EPA so bad?


http://ap.google.com/article/A...DmbYGMSIme2DQD8VPA9VG0



IBM Federal Ban Tied to Contract It Lost

By DIBYA SARKAR ? 1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AP) ? IBM Corp.'s ban from all new federal work stems from an $84 million Environmental Protection Agency contract the company lost last year and is protesting.

The EPA last week temporarily banned IBM from receiving any new government contracts while it investigates "potential activities involving a procurement." IBM said it is also cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which served grand jury subpoenas seeking documents and testimony relating to interactions between agency and IBM employees.

An EPA official confirmed on Tuesday that the suspension is related to a 10-year, $84 million deal awarded Feb. 12, 2007 to CGI Federal, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Canada-based CGI Group Inc. The contract is to modernize the agency's financial management system.

IBM, which was also vying for the contract, protested the award two months later to the Government Accountability Office, according to information provided by market research firm Federal Sources Inc.

Fed Sources said it learned that the GAO upheld IBM's protest in October, but then said earlier this month that investigators there had not made a decision yet on IBM's protest.

A message left at GAO was not immediately returned.

IBM spokesman Fred McNeese referred any details of the case to the EPA, but said the company is cooperating in both investigations. He declined to comment further.

Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM had federal contracts last year that amounted to at least $1.3 billion, roughly 1 percent of its 2007 revenue.

Under a reciprocal agreement among federal agencies, when one agency issues a ban, the others follow it. The company has 30 days to contest the scope of the suspension, which can continue for up to one year pending the completion of EPA's investigation.
 

Fern

Elite Member
Sep 30, 2003
26,907
173
106
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
What did IBM allegedly do?

I came by earlier and checked it out.

Answer: We don't know. There are some unspecified allegation of rule breaking in attempting to win a contract:

The EPA last week temporarily banned IBM from receiving any new government contracts while it investigates "potential activities involving a procurement."

Fern
 

Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
14,538
9,919
136
Why Bitter toward Big Blue? (Honest Question, I'm bitter towards my current employer, so I need to know who avoid in the future)
 

Phokus

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
22,995
776
126
Originally posted by: Zorba
Why Bitter toward Big Blue? (Honest Question, I'm bitter towards my current employer, so I need to know who avoid in the future)

I'll send a PM.
 

Modelworks

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
7
76
I'm guessing it is due to rohs.
IBM has had a hard time shifting all production over to it and its the EPA's new 'big thing'.
 

Thump553

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
12,676
2,429
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I'll wait for some hard facts. The EPA under Bush has turned into an absolute joke where the top execs are doing the best they can to trash the agency. Perhaps IBM did do something really wrong but the chances are at least as good that it was a spite decision within the EPA.
 

Thump553

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
12,676
2,429
126
An update on this-the ban is over. Apparently IBM was banned because of suspected use of insider knowledge in order to get an EPA contract, IBM has agreed to give up on that contract in exchange for lifting of the ban. I guess my earlier conjecture was wrong.

Makes you wonder if this is justice or business as usual. IBM ban lifted
 

Kirby

Lifer
Apr 10, 2006
12,032
2
0
That's funny, when I was interviewing for a position at AMRDEC at Redstone Arsenal, one of the guys couldn't see me because he was trying to figure out why they couldn't get something from IBM. One other guy jokingly mentioned China.
 

piasabird

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
17,168
60
91
We have found in the past that it can be difficult to deal directly with IBM. It is better to use a project developer or third party system developer that knows how to deal with IBM. It is like they speak a different language.