SG&I to IGS — Intergraph to create new subsidiary

In the blizzard of information that came out of Intergraph’s user group meeting last week was the announcement that the company will create an independent subsidiary to handle Intergraph’s classified business for the US government, Intergraph Government Solutions Corporation (IGS). According to the information Hexagon has released about Intergraph, 82% of the Security, Government & Infrastructure division’s revenue came from government/defense/public safety customers — about $372 million in 2009. It’s not clear how much of this comes under the heading of “classified business”, but IGS could be quite a substantial undertaking.

Why, you may ask? Because Hexagon is a Swedish company and foreign owners cannot be involved in projects for U.S. security agencies. According to All Points Blog, IGS will include all of the company’s classified work, and will be controlled by a “special proxy board consisting of three or more outside and fully independent directors who hold security clearances with the U.S. government. These directors are required to be independent of Intergraph and Hexagon with no prior affiliation to either party and likewise must be approved by the U.S. Defense Security Service (DSS). We have identified these Directors and submitted them for approval as part of our comprehensive DSS filing. All of the proposed Directors are well known, high profile people that have extensive experience and relationships within the U.S. government, Department of Defense or the U.S. intelligence community. Upon closing, we will immediately announce the names of the board members. Jack Pellicci will lead this group and report to this board.”

(This alphabet soup is likely to be confusing. Intergraph currently has a Safety, Government and Infrastructure division — SG&I — and has had an Intergraph Solutions Group — ISG — at various points. Are there no other letters in their alphabet?)