Veterans Affairs Awards $73M Contract For Cloud Computing
A company called CSRA just won a four-year contract worth $73 million to manage numerous Veterans Affairs cloud computing platforms.
CSRA will oversee VA’s secure cloud computer services. It will also act as the enterprise cloud services broker. The latter will perform the services as part of the Enterprise Cloud Services for Information Technology Infrastructure Modernization contract.
VA Cloud Computing Contract
CSRA wrote the following press release:
“FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Nov. 1, 2016 – CSRA Inc. (NYSE:CSRA) received a new contract to manage a portfolio of cloud computing services across the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) enterprise, which will significantly improve the agency’s delivery of enhancements to veteran health benefits and service delivery programs while driving down IT sustainment costs. The Enterprise Cloud Services (ECS) for Information Technology Infrastructure Modernization contract is valued at $73 million over a four-year period.
“’We’re leveraging our first-hand experience of transitioning our own data to the cloud, and decades of systems integration and expertise to effectively migrate VA to a cloud computing environment,’ said Paul Nedzbala, CSRA executive vice president, Health and Civil Group. ‘Moving to the cloud makes financial sense, aligns with government goals, and provides a sound, technical platform for the future.’
“Under the ECS contract CSRA will identify, integrate and manage secure cloud computing services on an ongoing basis for VA. The company will serve as the Enterprise Cloud Services Broker and manage a portfolio of cloud computing services across multiple vendors and internal VA offerings. CSRA will ensure the integration of all aspects related to cloud service delivery quality and compliance. The company will also help VA by providing network supportability, design and an application hosting configuration to ensure alignment with modernized service delivery, which will increase service quality across VA’s enterprise.”
About CSRA Cloud Computing
According to the company:
“Every day CSRA (NYSE: CSRA) makes a difference in how the government serves our country and our citizens. We deliver a broad range of innovative, cloud-enabled, next-generation IT solutions and professional services to help our customers modernize their legacy systems, protect their applications, infrastructure, and assets and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of mission-critical functions for our warfighters and our citizens. Our 18,000 employees understand that success is a matter of perseverance, courage, adaptability and experience. CSRA is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia.”
Source: https://www.csra.com/news/press-releases/csra-leads-veterans-affairs-enterprise-cloud
11/04/2016
Dear Benjamin Krause,
Moving to the Cloud? Who’s Cloud? What is in the Cloud? And where is the Cloud going?
CSC was accused of accounting and disclosure fraud for two years by the SEC.
CSC faked employees’ resumes for four years [DOJ].
“…the Computer Sciences Corporation agreed to pay $1.35 million. Under the False Claims Act, Kingsley’s share of the settlement is $2.3 million, according to the Justice Department,” in an article titled “Pentagon Farmed Out Its Coding to Russia,” by the Center for Public Integrity, on 11/04/2015.
This $73 million appears to be the same kind of money that disappeared over at Lockheed’s IT businesses.
We are getting close to Christmas?
Wonder what FBI Director Comey has in store for us [referencing his blunder at the end of December of 2015/cancelling 49 VA investigations]—Then again he might be out of a job [E-mail investigation days before the Presidential Election].
“Originally founded in 1959 as a Los Angeles, California a software company, CSC was an early pioneer in a software and contracting industry that is today one of America’s greatest economic drivers,” this brings back old memories of Torrance, California/1998 Cox Report.
Money well spent!
Sincerely,
Don Karg
Thank you Don for the info.
These folks dont learn. You can shove fact after fact into their faces, and they just dont get it.
Nothing on the web is secure. There is no such think as secure cloud computing because most of it will be hacked shortly after it can be accessed from the internet. They got the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, and everything between.
Secure means it is not connected to the Internet. Its the only way.
Still in active wars after 15+ years, so why not make all the Veteran Medical vulnerable to being hacked by the very enemy to find out what common ailments we Western Soldiers have so the enemy can fine tune their horrific torture technics?! But what do I know. Seems we threw the entire bath water with the bathtub out in what we learned from decades in The Cold War. I think we were safer then as well as a Country.
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now . And still somehow, I just don’t get it . How many hundreds of millions of dollars in the last two years has the VA spent on trying to help us Veterans? I try to keep up, but I can’t do the math. Honestly, is any of this for the veterans? I don’t think so . I believe the only thing that will ever really fill them clouds , will be the vapor from Chong’s Bong.
If you think about it, imagine how much easier it will be for federal agencies to share data amongst themselves, legally or not, when many federal agencies store things in the cloud.
Google is a huge player in cloud computing. I’m sure they wouldnt have a problem sharing any data with the right politician
Yeah, wikileaks, the State Department, Podesta and many others have shown how great cloud computing can be.
Not to mention Yahoo with 500 million accounts hacked.
What BS excuse will the VA give veterans now if their hospitals are all connected together? No more, “sorry, we can’t verify your prescription because our systems aren’t hooked together”.
The VA now can always say “your data exists on a different cloud and that cloud just had a thunderstorm”. 🙂
And the lightening just fried our computers.
“Sorry, can’t help you today!” Plus, “Can you substantiate you were in the military? We have no record of that. And, ” There’s no record of you in any of the VHA records!”
Right. Or, “That data must have never been scanned and digitized and uploaded to the cloud…or….that was pre-cloud data storage and we have no record…next!”
I say that because if you just take pre-internet for the masses (not that long ago, relatively speaking) when all newspapers and public data were to be found on those crazy things called “Microfish Films”, and a concerted effort HAS been effectively digitizing much of that data but not everything in the world.
Or take the days of sending your film into Kodak for development and the ONLY record of those pics were your negatives, same difference with Microfilm.
So what I am getting at is, we have YET to hear of a company contract that either been successful or made to scan ALL Veteran’s C-Files, Medical, everything…at a reasonable cost so the VA’s new “cloud” can be utilized for all that data but I am betting the DoD has everything digitized for our Service Time but it would be up to the VA or even private medical facilities a Vet may have used for years before even using the VA or even knowing they had that VA benefit…where is all that stuff scanned and held in some cloud at?
I am saying this IT Upgrade Project is going to be one HUGE MONEY PIT and guaranteed Veteran Cookie Jar for the VA. I highly doubt IBM is going to take all that time to scan all Veteran records past/present into WATSON…and last I recall it was some company owned by Xerox called ACS, which either was sold to France or moved there…and they were supposed to digitized VA records. More $$$ Grabs coming. Wait for it…
Hey Elf,
More bad new, Ash Carter on ‘Force of the Future’ reforms:
“Pentagon may ease recruiting rules for obese people, pot smokers and single parents”, By Douglas Ernst – The Washington Times – Wednesday, November 2, 2016
“”Defense Secretary Ashton Carter spoke on “Force of the Future” military reforms this week that may involve relaxed recruiting rules on everything from single-parent enlistees to drug use and obesity.
A Tuesday event at City College of New York featured Mr. Carter speaking on the challenges of recruitment in a nation that is fatter, increasingly at ease with smoking marijuana, and producing more single-parent homes. The result has been a fighting force that is gleaned from rural areas at twice the rate of urban environments.
“We’re going to review and update these standards as appropriate,” Mr Carter said, Military Times reported. “Now, some of these things we’ll never be able to compromise on. And we will always have to maintain high standards. But at the same time, these benchmarks must be kept relevant for both today’s force and tomorrow’s, meaning we have to ensure they’re not unnecessarily restrictive.””
Full article at: “https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/2/pentagon-may-ease-recruiting-rules-for-single-pare/”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I guess Ash and his tranny bragayed, he/shes, the he-want-be-shes, the she-want-to-be-hes and it’s have a few more changes to totally demoralize the Military. Also increase the cost of maintaining the health of military personnel.
I am sure there is nothing like the feeling of having a few trannies watching your back in a conflict.
Seymore,
Can you imagine watching “obese” and “druggies” going through basic, AIT (Infantry), Jump School, etc.
I remember when the Army was caught enlisting “Gang Bangers” a few years ago.
Times have sure changed! Of course, what do they, our fearless leaders, expect. When morale in the military is at an all time low!
I read, somewhere, “Career Military” people were saying, it wasn’t worth it to stay in! Especially after that “Bonus Fiasco”. Where the military was being “Forced to repay” it.
No wonder the military personnel and spouses are liking Trump for POTUS!
Stands to reason, Hillary’s going to get us into something we can’t get ourselves out of!
That’s the opinion of millions of citizens!
“Wikileaks 27 JUST RELEASED: FBI Indictments for Hillary Clinton.”
Although it looks bad for her, it seems the Justice Department has assigned a close friend of Podesta to oversee the investigation. He’s the same person, in an email, which kept Podesta from jail back in the 90’s.
I hope these FBI agents, and NYPD officials, are ready for a uphill battle.
VA DC HQ ONE BIG BIG FEDRAL RICO CRIME RACKET RUN BY @ FOR AFGE UNION CONTRACTS ALL VET FIGHT THIS VA DC HQ CRIME RACKET THE MAFIA IS MICKEY MOUSE TO VA RIC CRIME RACKETS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If y’all thought the VA was bad as “bean counters”. Take a look at what our “First Ladies” have been up to.
Since Mamie Eisenhower to Barbara Bush, each only had one person helping them.
Then you get to Hillary Clinton, who had seven “civil servants” on board. Then, back to the Bush’s, and again, only one.
Now, take a look at how many people are in a paid position by taxpayers for Michelle Obama – 22 – that’s correct, twenty-two paid by taxpayers to help this “First Lady” with her “social agendas’!
At a cost of over $1.3 million of taxpayers monies!
Google the following;
“First Ladies Hired Help!”
By: Canada Free Press
Seymore,
Here’s a “Fox News Live” video from this morning.
“Clinton Foundation Is The Motherload,” Judge “IT’S TIME FOR A GRAND JURY”! Hillary To Be Indicted”
(15:45 minutes long)
Lots of people weighing in on this. Also, according to an FBI informant, there “…was a 99% chance…” Hillary’s email server WAS hacked!
I guess I got a bug. If this posts it’ll be a miracle!
I keep trying, yet only these b/s comments get on, why?
Seymore,
Check this out.
“Insider: NYPD/FBI Found Sex Blackmail Network On Weiner’s Computer”
A good link is “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inDJxuZ4kzM”
They is a lot more than they are releasing. Just wait until they start the releases on Saipan.
Of course when they start on Saipan the big boy who cannot be arrested will be the one they are talking about. Although he could be impeached.
I have had a post not go through today also.
Isn’t CSRA Inc. headed by Nancy Killefer from McKinsey & Company wealth management?
I guess the VA is also going with the flow and going to help drain the swamp. But maybe some one should tell them that drain the swamp doesn’t mean drain the VA of all the taxpayer money in to overseas wealth management accounts.
Besides with the pharma contracts between Mckinsey & Company and the VA aren’t they already draining taxpayer money from the VA at a never before seen rate?
I guess in this case cloud computing just means the skies the limit on fraud and corruption.
I see yet again Robbie McDonald’s old boss when he managed Proctor and Gamble the Bank of Mellon owns a big controlling interest in McKinsey. Just like they do with Gilead who is selling the VA meds for Hep-C at shy high prices even though they were discovered, researched and tested at the VA. Another of Robbie’s deals.
I am sure when Robbie is done with the VA he will not even need to reach for the skies because he will own a controlling share of bank of Mellon and already own a controlling interest on the skies and any clouds that appear.
The McKinsey companies sole source contract to provide all VA Pharma is valued at: $6,524,737.25
Got to run more latter but here is the start of my next post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Truly the sky is the limit for VA management with their heads in the clouds. Given some of Robbie McDonald’s successes in managing the bigger budgets being approved by Congress since becoming the Secretary of the department of Veteran Affairs in 2014.
Several of his recently noted accomplishments are the total number of employees now receiving bonuses is up more than 20% boasting a whopping, more than, 24% increase in money spent on bonuses overall [1]. Showing Clearly what Robbie has been able to accomplish with his “I show you who’s boss attitude”, against Congress’s call for no bonuses at the VA.
Without a doubt, Robbie has truly mastered the VA’s bigger budget problems. Several of his note worth changes that are surely helping to dispose of the bigger budget.
1. Robbie recently boasted that under him he has successfully changed 90% of the management and management teams through the VA health care system. All while only hiring 8 new VA facility directors. All thought Robbie’s superior ability to master the VA Whack-A-Mole anti-accountability program. Given the well-publicized relocation expenses paid out to Graves and Rueben nearing half a million dollars. The total increase in relocation expenses to accomplish Robbie’s 90% change in management Robbie has surely disposed of well over $100 million of those increased budgets in less than 2 years without having to actually hold management accountable [2].
Seymore,
If I remember correctly, when Old McDuck left “P&G” there were confusions over “lost money”! I think a few million if I’m not mistaken!
Not Sure Elf about the money.
But the big thing that left was a settlement owed to Proctor and Gambles investors from a law suit against Teva pharma for copy right infringement on one of the drugs copy righted by P & G.
Also P & G investors lost most of the copy rights to all there drug lines and there labs and manufacturing facilities which McDonald had given them in a partnership agreement.
Again there is the bank of Mellon connection in fact the bank of Mellon owned and backed Teva’s move into the United States from Israel.
That is why Robbie was fired!
I Received this email from Veterans Health Public Health Announcements on 11/3/16
Read more about VE-HEROeS at https://www.publichealth.va.gov/epidemiology/studies/heroes/index.asp
VA researchers are inviting approximately 54,000 Americans to join VE-HEROeS, an important survey study that will look at the health of Vietnam Veterans, Blue Water Navy Veterans, and Veterans who served elsewhere during the Vietnam Era, as well as other similarly aged Americans.
This study will also compare the health of these Veterans to similarly aged U.S. residents who never served in the military. – hummm the future where every single human’s health info is stored & accessed in the Clouds.
And so we’ll have another private contractor working without adequate supervision to lose our documents.
Not only that, Lem. Can you imagine how many “Homeless Veterans” could have been fed AND housed with that wasted taxpayers monies?!
Two articles today from “Military.com”.
1.)
“Survey: Vets Back Trump’s Plan for More Private Health Care”
by: Brendan McGarry, 2 Nov 2016
#2.)
“Survey: Trump Leads Race Amoung Military Spouses”
by: Amy Bushatz, 2 Nov 2016
Both articles overlap. Both are a scathing report against VA’s (non)healthcare system! A must read for active duty personnel and veterans of all walks of life!
As I commented on yesterday. Ms. Nikki Haley, (S.C., Gov.) Is switching her vote FROM Hillary TO Mr. Trump. Because, she likes his “healthcare plan” and the “repealing of Obamacare”!
She said she’s “…protecting her citizens, [and the nations citizens]!”
namnibor,
“…a ‘box kite’ and string…”(?) Do you actually believe the VA has scientifically advanced to the intricacies of a ‘box kite’?
The name is in the “CLOUD”, just as is the brains of the VA employees.
Like “Iratevet24601” has said, basically a waste of taxpayers monies! (paraphrasing)!
NOW we finally know where all the pidgeon droppings in the former OIG leaderships conference room came from! They have been training pidgeons for cloud duty! It has finally been exposed!
~~Statement From Nation’s Pigeon Umbrella Union~~
The nation’s “Pigeon Umbrella Union” (aka: PU Union), want to assure Veterans that the *attempted* experiments utilizing Pigeons as a data storage in the ‘Cloud’ network from that all glass VA OIG Conference room were thwarted by the PU Union due to the sheer number of our flock that had complete loss of vision due to the OIG obsessively skeet-shooting our brethren in the eyes with something deceivingly similar to PU Poo.
It got worse when the VA OIG determined that the PU Union were purposefully providing false-positives. How could it, you might ask?! Well, then the VA had the wild idea to then use the already soiled all glass conference room, placing large stretched artist canvasses on floors and allowing the PU Union to poo all over the canvasses, creating very expensive, new VA Art, which was then charged again to the Tax Payers.
In the end, everyone ‘got off’ okay but many pigeons are in psychotherapy currently.
Wow,
Here in Oregon we just watch the clouds. VA is spending a whopping 365000 times more on a cloud (are those cold or hot air?) than the host of this site spent on compiling a resource guide for vets. Ben spent about $200 and produced something usable by a multitude of vets within a few days or so and has been of genuine use since the first day.
VA is slated to spend 365000 times that amount in hopes that one day something that they are selling as a “cloud” will somehow help out veterans. Hmmmm. Let me think this through…..
nope. it didn’t work and I thought REAL hard. Absolutely no response is necessary when VA tells us it is spending $73,00,000 in hopes that in four years they will have a cloud, because for once I believe that VA will deliver precisely just that.
Ben, any help with the numbers here? I am gonna vaporize some Oregon Marijuanna now….for about $5 I am going to produce a cloud that will benefit this veteran. Cheers.
The only “clouds” the VA will be able to muster will be from the janitors leaving a mixture of bleach and ammonia in a mop bucket at some VA facility -OR- it will be the clouds of methane gas exuding from the Southside of the VA Meatgrinder. Either way, this will no doubt be a future problem the VA has created but entirely a beneficial problem for the VA when the VA starts telling Veterans that all their claim data was “lost in the cloud”. Even better than a St. Louis Fire. No mess, only fuss. Wait for it…….
What did Ben produce for $200? I’m interested checking out what he has to offer. Thanks.
@Gary Hanns-
Was yesterday’s article here. “New VocRehab Resource page” and here’s the link to the Resource Page and the full article is yesterday’s topic: “https://www.disabledveterans.org/chapter-31-voc-rehab-page/”
I seriously worry about any “shortcuts” the VA will inevitable take in keeping Veteran data secure in an age where cyber hack attacks are becoming ever more prevalent.
Since the VA’s IT state of affairs is currently somewhere between cups and strings & year 1985 tech, makes me wonder if “The Cloud” to the VA means a series of very expensive box kites containing all our data; which would retain the VA’s network of kite string, cups and string network. $73 Million worth of box kites and more cups and strings.
Seeing how this contract is for 4 years and anything like this is a continual money-pit of maintenance and updates, this seriously worries me because IT and the VA mix like crude oil & water. One large hack and all data…POOF!!!!! This will also be a sure-fire, regular money-grab for the VA and it’s lamprey contractors.
Seriously suggest all Veterans obtain your full C-File before the VA digitizes and loses it literally “in the clouds”. 🙂
Yet more taxpayer money into the VA Titanic.
@Iratevet24601-
Rest assured that each and every Veteran serves as a floatation device for those cruising the V.A. Titanic.
THE VA DC HQ IS THE TITANIC BUDGET FOR 12016 182 BILLION $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ THE VA DC HQ ARE DOGS IN HEAT TO STEAL the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ by federal rico crime rackets example bonouses for 2016 177,OOO,OOO $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ va dc hq pigs at the expense of us @ vets as tax payers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!