Microsoft Wins Contract to Provide Word Processing Software to Entire Federal Courts System

By Sarah Charf and Marty Taucher and Connie Snyder and Pam Edstrom
Business Wire

March 9, 1989

Redmond, WA -- Microsoft Corp. Thursday announced that it will supply word processing software to the Federal Courts system as a leading subcontractor on the multiyear Office Automation Procurement contract recently awarded to Federal Data Corp. by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

The total contract has an estimated worth of $135 million. Quantities of Microsoft Word estimated in the Request for Proposal (RFP) are 7000-8000 units over the nine-year life of the contract, making this the largest commitment to Microsoft Word to date.

"The choice of Microsoft Word by the Federal Courts system validates the work we have done to make Microsoft Word a clear choice for the legal community," said Bill Gates, chairman and cofounder of Microsoft. "Our superior redlining and document retrieval system are ideal features for them."

This contract will provide a modernizing of the office automation environment of the Federal Courts system, which currently hosts a variety of incompatible dedicated word processors and personal computers nearing the end of their expected life.

As a major subcontractor, Microsoft will supply its leading word processing software, Microsoft Word for the PC, version 4.0. Under the terms of the contract, any future releases in the Microsoft word processing family, including the previously announced Microsoft Word 5.0, also can be supplied to the Federal Judiciary.

Other leading word processing vendors that competed with Microsoft to supply the software for the Federal Judiciary included WordPerfect Corp. and Samna Corp.

The contract is scheduled to run for nine years supplying hardware, software, training and technical services to the Federal Judiciary. The Federal Judiciary consists of the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals, the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts, other special courts, and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and the Federal Judicial center.

This contract will service court locations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Users will include circuit, district and bankruptcy judges, magistrates, their staffs, circuit and district court executives, staff attorneys, circuit libraries, clerks of the courts, probation officers and pretrial services offices.

Federal Data will offer an IBM-compatible 286 (minimum) PC with a combination of laser, dot matrix, and letter-quality printers and other software including database, spreadsheet, appointment scheduler and communications software. The Microsoft Federal Office (Washington, D.C.) will be working with Federal Data Corp. to implement an aggressive marketing campaign targeted to the U.S. Court Offices.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) develops, markets and supports a wide range of software for business and professional use, including operating systems, languages and application programs, as well as books, hardware and CD-ROM products for the microcomputer marketplace.

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