CH2M President and Chief Executive Officer John Ciucci welcomed transitioning employees at an orientation session.

The IT transition team - Contractors Work Together to Ensure Successful IT Transition

As a part of the IT transition, crews installed fiber lines for the Hanford Local Area Network.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Approximately 320 Hanford Site workers arrived at work in late August as new employees of CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M), which assumed the River Corridor Closure Contract scope when Washington Closure Hanford's (WCH) contract ended Sept. 30.

   “The contract ended, but the cleanup work important to the community and our stakeholders did not,” EM Richland Operations Office Transition Manager John Neath said. “Many people were involved in ensuring a collaborative and smooth transition.”

   Teams from WCH and CH2M spent months making the transition as safe and seamless as possible, reviewing project statuses, timelines, scope, compliance requirements and processes for the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility and 618-10 Burial Ground work.

   Weekly meetings served to transition human resources, IT and other support services. Regular communications kept WCH and CH2M employees informed.

   “I appreciate the long hours and attention to detail that ultimately allowed important cleanup work to continue during this time,” said Mike Jennings, CH2M transition manager. “The knowledge and skill that we retained on this important cleanup work will allow us to advance the mission into the future.”

CH2M, WCH and Mission Support Alliance (MSA), the contractor responsible for managing IT and other services across the site, completed a major accomplishment in record time by joining forces to provide a smooth transition for the approximately 320 workers under the new contract.  

   As WCH's contract winded down, CH2M reached out to MSA to help make sure computers, Internet and phone services were available to CH2M workers on their first day. 

   After months of planning and behind-the-scenes preparation, the technicians, network and software engineers, project managers and teamsters had only three days to successfully reset work stations for the employees.

   “This was a great team effort that demonstrated cooperation and efficiency under a very tight deadline and short timeframe for the actual transition,” said Ben Ellison, RL chief information officer.    

   The team removed WCH computers, equipment and networks at six locations across the site and installed new desktop computers, phone lines and thousands of feet of new cable. 

   “We were happy to partner with CH2M and WCH to help complete the IT portion of the transition,” said Todd Eckman, MSA vice president of information management. “When you sit back and think about all of the things that needed to be completed in a short amount of time, it’s an impressive feat.”

   The team transitioned 75 buildings from the WCH network to the Hanford Local Area Network over a weekend.

   The contractors closed WCH’s data center containing 65 servers to help DOE reduce its IT and carbon footprints. The closure was intended to cut energy use, consolidate inefficient infrastructures, optimize existing facilities, achieve cost savings and transition to more efficient infrastructures in compliance with the following:

  • Executive Order 13693, Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade;
  • the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act; and 
  • the Office of Management and Budget’s Data Center Optimization Initiative.

   The team successfully completed its work before the “go-live” date of Aug. 29, when the employees reported for work with their new company. The IT transition has since run smoothly and without major problems.