VA Awards Contract For Mobile Device Management, Apps Store

The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a long-awaited contract to build a system that will manage a stable of mobile devices officials hope will eventually grow to 100,000 handhelds and tablets.

The award, issued as a task order under VA's Transformation Twenty one Total Technology (T4) multiple award contract, calls for the development of not just a mobile device management (MDM) system, but also a secure development environment for building and testing mobile apps, plus "internal" and "external" app stores, along with a new cloud computing system to house the whole mobility effort.

The initial $4.2 million task order to begin work on the project went to Longview International Technology Solutions of Rockville, Md. The service-disabled, veteran-owned small business will partner with Agilex Technologies to build the mobile device system, an industry source said. Over the three-year life of the deal, Longview could receive about $9.3 million.