AGENCY EFFORTS TO PLACE THE BURROUGHS COMPUTER SYSTEMS EXCESS TO THE SAFE PROJECT WITHIN THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00992R000100100001-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 2, 2005
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 14, 1983
• Content Type: MFR

ADMINISTRATIVE - INTERNAL USE ONLY
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ODP-83-1579
14 November 19$3
SUBJECT; Agency Efforts to Place-the Burroughs Computer
Systems Excess to the SAFE Project within the
Intelligence Community.
1. The purpose of this memorandum is to document the
Government's efforts to assist in the Intelligence Community (IC)
placement of the Burroughs Corporation computer systems that
became excess due to redirection of the joint CIA/DIA Support to
the Analyst File Environment (SAFE) Project. The effort
culminated in August 1983 with the placement of seven systems
within the IC and the release of the remaining four systems to the
General Services Administration (GSA) for reassignment to other
Governmental entities. These four remaining systems were recently
placed by GSA in the U.S. Patent Office (2), Coast Guard (1), and
Air Force (1) facilities.
2. TRW Inc, the SAFE development contractor, awarded a
cor_tract. to Burroughs Corporation in 1980 to provide the SAFE
computer hardware. In mid-1982, the Director of Central
Intelligence and the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency
(DIA}, upon the recommendation of an inter-agency audit team,
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redirected the consolidated SAFE development effort to a less
risky approach that would provide an earlier capability for both
CIA and DIA, and would build upon existing software available
through CIA's operational Interim SAFE capability. The new
approach required IBM-compatible hardware, causing the Burroughs
computer hardware to become excess to SAFE Project requirements.
At that time TRW was directed to terminate the contract with
Burroughs Corporation to provide the SAFE hardware. The final
termination agreement between TRW and Burroughs Corporation was
completed in the spring of 1983. Although the mutual release and
settlement agreement between TRW and Burroughs Corporation did not
explicitly state any Government obligation to assist in the
reassignment of the excess hardware within the IC, communications,
during the final settlement process between the Government, TRW
and Burroughs Corporation, committed the Government to a best
effort level of assistance to achieve that goal. The letter to
Burroughs Corporation from TRW
(83.35656.06-036) spelled out the Government commitment.
3. For perspective, it is important to note that the main
thrust of the Agency's efforts could only be to insure that
Intelligence Community agencies were fully aware of the equipment
availability, the favorable acquisition terms, and to provide
assistance in any resulting transfer. The inherent nature of the
IC is such that neither CIA, DIA or the IC Staff are in a position
to actually direct IC members to acquire specific hardware. (Even
if this were possible, it obviously would not be a useful
strategy.) The same is true within CIA and DIA. It would clearly
have been counter-productive for CIA or DIA senior management to
direct unwilling components to utilize this equipment. Therefore,
the goal,. from the CIA/DIA perspective, was to insure the widest
dissemination in the IC of the equipment availability. It is also
important to point out that within Burroughs Corporation there is
a marketing group which is targeted at the IC. This group should
have been aware of, and talking to, IC installations that could
have most likely utilized the excess Burroughs hardware.
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4. The ODP Management Staff has responsibility far managing
the Agency-wide Automatic Data Processing (ADP) resources
reutilization program and through this capacity was tasked to
manage the disposition of the excess Burroughs computer systems.
5. The initial equipment inventory was seven B6900s and one
Dual B7800 computer system. There were also three additional
B6900 systems (undelivered) that became Government property as a
result of the final contract settlement. These systems became
available for reassignment in the spring of 1983 at the completion
of the settlement negotiations. The acquisition cost of the
eleven systems was $3,$57,941 (this represented a 70% discount of
the 1980 GSA schedule price.) The acquisition cast of the seven
systems placed within the IC was $3,329,941.
6. The search for candidate placement agencies within the IC
began in August 1982, shortly after the redirection of the SAFE
Project was formalized. There were three basic channels of
communications used to insure that the equipment availability was
fully advertised. throughout the IC.
(a) First, CIA requested assistance from the IC Staff and
NSA to announce the availability of the systems to their contacts
in the IC. This approach insured that almost all of the IC would
be aware of the equipment availability. The Agency then fielded
any requests for further information and placed them in contact
with the Burroughs marketing representative to follow-up on
technical considerations.
(b) Secondly, we fielded queries from IC members as the
Burroughs Corporation's marketing team made IC members aware of
the equipment availability. We verified equipment availability to
the members and provided assistance as needed.
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(c) The third approach was accomplished in parallel with the
other two and involved directly contacting IC components to advise
of the equipment availability. Both IC and non-IC Government
agencies were contacted. (Note --- a definition of what
constituted IC entities for equipment placement purposes was never
formally developed. However, from the Agency's perspective, it
included the traditional National Foreign Intelligence Board
entities plus any other Government entity that Burroughs
Corporation indicated to us as being acceptable.)
7. In order to document that, the Government provided 'best.
effort' at placing the systems in the IC per the contract
termination agreement the following is ODP Management Staff's
major activities and those known activities of the IC, NSA, DIA,
Burroughs Corporation, and others, to announce the availability of
the Burroughs equipment. (Note --- there were, of course, much
activity within the IC components and other agencies relative to
this effort that the CIA was not directly aware of but must be
assumed occurred due to the inquiries received from various levels
within interested agencies.)
(a) The IC staff (ICS), specificall
Chairman, Intelligence Information Handling Committee IHC , was
given the background of the SAFE redirection and equipment
availability on 15 August 1982. Initial inventories of the
available equipment were obtained and forwarded on
27 August 1982. and his staff provide exce ence
support through announcements of equipment availability to their
IC/IHC contacts. Since the IHC is representative of the ADP
organizations within the IC, the members were all aware of the
equipment availability. Through ICS efforts the Navy became aware
of the equipment and eventually acquired two B6900 systems to
upgrade and
augment
current systems of the Nav Su
1
S stems
Command that
provide
support to the IC.
concluded IC
efforts
to place the available systems on 1$ July
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1983. The IC had intensified their efforts over those last 45
days to place the systems. Six agencies (INS, DEA, Treasury,
Customs, Coast Guard and the Vice President's office) give serious '
consideration to utilizing the hardware but none chase to acquire
the systems. A substantial effort was made by the IC to place the
systems in the newly organized narcotics interdiction effort being
headed up by the Vice President and Admiral Murphy. This effort
was unsuccessful due to the absence of firm ADP requirements at
this early juncture in the unit's formation.
indicated to ODP via memorandum her perceptions that a more then
adequate attempt had. been made to place these systems within the
Intelligence Community as defined by Burroughs Corporation.
(b) The equipment availability was announced to CIA
components via contacts in the ADP equipment reutilization
program. Two responses were received; an Office of Sigint
Operations group and a Operations Directorate component expressed
interest. However, both organization were looking for smaller
equipment due to physical space limitations, and also regc~=red the
equipment to operate in an office environment rather then computer
facility. The other major information processing components in
the Agency, such as the National Fhotographic Interpretation
Center, the Office of Development and Engineering, Office of
Research and Development, and the Office of Data Processing did
not have requirements/equipment fits for the Burroughs systems,
due primarily to incompatibilities with their existing equipment.
The corporate systems users (corporate systems seems to be
Burroughs Corporation's forte) within the Agency have most of
their applications installed on ODP's IBM-compatible centralized
computer facility. The few exceptions of decentralized non IBM-
compatible small corporate systems within the Agency were either
not scheduled. for upgrade/replacement or the equipment was not
sized properly for a requirements fit.
(c) Mr. Fitzwater, CIA's Deputy Director for Administration,
telephoned NSA on approximately 15 August 1983 to provide
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background on the SAFE redirection and to offer the available
(d) The Vice Directorate for Foreign Intelligence of DIA had
previously acquired a Burroughs B6900 system from the SAFE
Burroughs equipment inventory. This system DIA retains at
Arlington Hall Station to support a sensitive database
application. DIA, when the redirection of SAFE occurred, also
announced. the availability of the Burroughs systems within their
organization. The announcement was via at that
time the Executive Director for DIA Systems. Note --- this is
the organization within DIA with budget approval responsibilty for
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ADP acquisitions.)
(e) Other agencies were contacted by Management Staff after
being identified as a current Burroughs equipment user. Special
reports were requested from the GSA's ADPMIS to identify users of
Burroughs equipment within the Federal Government and the
designated ADPMIS official was then contacted. Several Air Force,
Navy and Justice Department installations were contacted in this
manner.
(f) During the placement effort the Burroughs SAFE Manager
and the Management Staff met regularly to discuss our mutual
activities to place the excess equipment within the IC.
Throughout the effort Burroughs Corporation and management Staff
exchange telephone numbers of interested parties and both than
followed up directly. Also, Burroughs Corporation's federal
marketeers were very active in considering the excess systems as
candidates for upgrades to installed systems in the IC and other
Government organizations. I believe it is a credit to the
Burroughs federal marketing group that these excess 'Government-
owned systems' were serious considered over new revenue sales for
system upgrades in the IC. The acquisition of two B6900 systems
from the SAFE inventory by the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) is an
example of the above and will represent considerable savings to
the Government. These actions also reaffirmed Burroughs good.
faith commitment to equipment placement within the IC.
8. The redirection of the SAFE Project included the movement
of the majority of the development activities to the Washington
D.C. area and the eventual closedown of the TRW West Coast SAFE
facility. Five B6900 and one dual B7800 computer systems were
installed in the west coast facility at the time of the
redirection. The stop-work and stop-delivery notifications
coupled with the movement of staff to other jobs as contract
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termination and/or redirection became apparent made the
availability of accurate equipment inventories difficult. Upon
reaching a certain point in the final settlement negotiation,
arrangements were made by Management Staff to provide access to
the site by Burroughs Corporation personnel. Burroughs
Corporation personnel, remaining knowledgeable TRW personnel and a
Management Staff representative visited the development facility
site to obtain an accurate inventory, tag the equipment by systems
and to determine and include all field changes to the systems.
Navy and NSA representatives were also invited to perform
inventories prior to transfer of the equipment to their
organizations. The Burroughs Corporation representatives visited
the site again in July 1983 to disassemble and pack-the systems
for shipment to Navy and NSA prior to site closedown. The three
remaining B6900 systems located at the TRW development facility
were eventually placed into commercial storage in order to allow
the facility to be closed. These systems were transferred to the
control of GSA in August 19$3.
9. Seven of the eleven systems were placed in IC organizations
(NSA, Navy, DMA and DIA) which were acceptable to the terms of the
contract final settlement agreement. The remaining four systems
were released to GSA after it became clear to the Gavernment and
Burroughs Corporation that additional systems could not be placed
in the IC in a timely manner. CIA recovered $137,000 from NSA and
the Navy which was then reinserted into the SAFE project
development effort. This recovery would not have been possible if
all of the systems had been released to GSA for reutilization.
The Burroughs Corporation seems to be satisfied that the
Government did indeed provide their 'best effort' at placing the
systems in the IC. Finally, in looking at the requirements that
the systems placed in the IC will fulfill, I feel they will be
productively utilized, and in some cases, provide needed
additional computer capacity where it would otherwise not have
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been possible due to funding limitations.
Distribution:
1 -
D/ODP
1 -
C/MS
1 -
PD/CSPO/ISG/ODP
1 - SAFE Contracting Officer/CSPO/ISG/ODP
1 -
MS
Chrono
2 -
ODP
Registry
1 -
MS
Subject file (Excess Equipment - SAFE - Burroughs Corp.
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