DHS awards blanket purchase agreement to immixGroup for security products

DHS has awarded immixGroup, Inc an Enterprise Software Solution (ESS) Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) for McAfee software licenses and incidental services, said the company on Nov. 1.

The DHS issued a solicitation for software product lines to satisfy a series of functional requirements in three software capability areas (Application Infrastructure, Backup and Storage, and Security), regardless of the brand name of the software, said immixGroup. The company said its offer for McAfee software was one of the software product lines selected in the Security capability area. immixGroup helps technology companies do business with the government.

The company’s McAfee-specific ELA facilitates purchases of security software licenses across DHS and is established contractually as a GSA Schedule-based Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for a term of up to seven years, it said. According to immixGroup, the BPA adheres to new procurement rule changes announced earlier this year requiring agencies to award multiple BPAs per solicitation. In this case, the DHS established agreements with multiple brands for Enterprise Software Solutions, including McAfee, said immixGroup. By facilitating competition for the BPAs among product lines within three defined software capability areas and awarding a single BPA for each product line, the DHS ultimately simplifies software license procurements on behalf of DHS customers, it said.

"This procurement strategy preserves the integrity of the procurement system by fostering competition," said immixGroup  co-founder Steve Charles. "It ensures consistent licensing terms and updates across the enterprise, which benefits both the manufacturer and the government customer."

In addition, this BPA is a mandatory for use vehicle at DHS Headquarters and by all DHS Components looking to procure a comprehensive array of McAfee products covering numerous functional areas, including enterprise virus and malware protection; identity and access management; firewall; and database, application, Web server, and mobile security; among others, said the company.

"We're pleased to be the contract holder for this ELA," said Charles. "It will greatly benefit our DHS customers by allowing them to more easily purchase McAfee security software products and related maintenance."