Pennsylvania Extends Pioneering Outsourcing Initiative

BLUE BELL, Pa. -- Pennsylvania has approved a three-year extension of its groundbreaking data center outsourcing initiative. The contract extension, worth an estimated $252 million, continues an extensive outsourcing arrangement with Unisys Corp. to manage and maintain Pennsylvania's Data PowerHouse facility.

The outsourcing project -- initiated with a seven-year, $621 million contract signed in 1999 -- consolidated more than 20 data centers operated by state agencies. The Data PowerHouse facility houses mainframe and mid-range systems used by Pennsylvania agencies to process driver's license renewals, property tax rebates, criminal files, unemployment compensation claims and other services.

"By bringing these separate data centers together into one state-of-the-art government data center, we're realizing a number of benefits for our agencies, and ultimately, for our citizens," said Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Scheiker. "Our contract extension not only makes financial sense, but it will ensure our Data PowerHouse continues to set the blue-ribbon standard for data center operations around the world."

Pennsylvania-based Unisys leads a 10-company consortium that manages the data center project. The new contract, which extends the project through 2009, includes the delivery of technology and services to enhance disaster recovery for critical government services provided by the Data PowerHouse.