GlobalNet Services had previously worked with the FDA on Science FIRST, an agency-wide portal that enhances the FDA's science capabilities, and helps it meet its regulatory obligations to collect necessary data and information.
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — The US Food and Drug Administration has awarded a five-year, $53 million contract to information technology provider GlobalNet Services (www.gnsi.com) for Web support and hosting services.
According to GlobalNet Services’ Tuesday announcement, it will provide Web content management, website development and support services for the FDA’s external and internal websites and Web applications. The contract includes one base year and four option years.
“The public, regulated industry and other government agencies rely on the FDA Web site to provide timely and accurate information,” GlobalNet Services president and chief executive officer Ori Reiss said in a statement. “The FDA’s selection of GlobalNet Services to continue to manage the Web support and hosting services for the Agency validates our position as an innovative IT leader. Having worked with the Agency for over 15 years, we have an in-depth understanding of the FDA’s needs, along with the expertise necessary to develop innovative and cost effective solutions that will enhance the FDA’s future Web hosting and support needs.”
Under the terms of the contract, GlobalNet Services will maintain and enhance the FDA intranet and Internet sites and provide project management, hosting services, application development and maintenance, search solutions and technical expertise to support the FDA’s Web content management systems and applications. It will also provide Web analytics and Web caching services.
Last month, GlobalNet Services announced it would begin offering hosting for government agencies in partnership with dedicated and managed server hosting provider Rackspace (www.rackspace.com), which would provide the underlying infrastructure necessary for these solutions.
“By adding our hosting solutions to GlobalNet Services’ GSA schedule, their customers will have access to some of the same features, functionality and service as Rackspace’s enterprise customers, including improved redundancy, quality of service and additional layers of support,” Rackspace North American channel sales director Christopher Rajiah said in a statement.
Governments have been increasingly looking towards external services providers to cut costs, and provide robust online service performance and an improved user experience. In March, the US government said it would embark on the largest data center consolidation in history, reducing more than 1,100 federal agency data centers. The White House furthered this commitment last month when it issued a memo seeking to establish concrete plans consolidating data centers across every federal government agency.
While there is a drive to outsource government IT, it often requires robust and flexible security architecture to meet internal customer security requirements and those of regulators.
Reiss said that Rackspace helps provide the necessary level of service, as well as security. “By offering Rackspace’s services along with our services to our government clients, we are not only simplifying the management and maintenance of the hosting process, we are also improving the performance, stability, and security of their systems.”
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