The top-secret National Security Agency plans to outsource control of its information technology support to the private sector, NSA officials announced Wednesday.
IT jobs that will be outsourced are in four areas: distributed computing, enterprise and security management, networks and telephony. The move could affect as many as 5,000 NSA employees' jobs.
"Explosive growth in the global network and new technologies makes our partnership with industry more vital to NSA's success than ever before," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, the agency's director.
The move to contract out certain IT functions stemmed from a 15-month feasibility study NSA performed last year. The study identified four areas in which the agency could partner with private firms to deliver IT services.
The purpose of the outsourcing and partnership efforts is to redirect NSA's assets on core functions that support its defense missions, a move reflecting a "dramatic change in NSA's long-standing IT operations," the agency said.
In January the NSA confirmed reports that its computer systems suffered a breakdown considered one of the biggest IT failures in the agency's history.
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