by, Lynn Blodgett, president, Xerox Services
To be candid, we took a different approach than others to win a landmark contract with the Texas Department of Information Resources. We had to. This contract was asking for the successful candidate to consolidate 28 separate data facilities to two centralized centers, upgrade and modernize one of the largest information technology systems in the country, improve the overall security and disaster recovery capabilities and bring IT services to the cloud. The contract would go a long way in simplifying the way state agencies work.
I know Texas likes to think big, and this was a big task.
To provide the best result, you need to clearly know the challenge. Our team did just that, working to understand the needs of the state and their pain points so we could bring the best solution forward—an effective mix of people, partners and solutions. This made Xerox different– we pulled together a team—not a one-size-fits-all solution from a single company.
We built that team from the ground up. We pulled together firms like EMC, Cisco, VCE, VMware and Symantec as well as small niche players who have specialized expertise. For almost two years, we worked tirelessly to get their opinions and assessments so we could offer the most comprehensive bid possible. We wanted their expertise and their active participation in winning the trust of the client.
Our team embodied a commitment to the state of Texas that was unmatched. The team approach offers all the advantages of a multi-vendor solution while providing consistent transparency, streamlined processes, and governance participation through every aspect of this contract. Each member of our team provides specialized services to clients around the world but we’re bringing their expertise to bear for the benefit of Texas and its residents while employing hundreds of Texans.
In the end, the state trusted our team to ink a contract worth $848 million. No one company alone could have accomplished this feat, it took a team to win this contact, and it will take a team to deliver results.
