Welcome home: Contractor hostages released

After more than five years in captivity, three Northrop Grumman Corp. contract employees have been rescued by the Colombian military.

Command Info buys a bright Idealogica

Command Information has acquired privately held Idealogica, a provider of information security services.

Networx score card

After years of preparation, the transition from FTS 2001 to Networx is finally beginning in earnest. Hold onto your hats.

Networx by the numbers

The numbers related to the 10-year, $68.2 billionNetworx program can make your head swim, butthey can also update you on the progress of a constantlychanging program.

Tic tock

The OMB directive to trim to 50the government's Internet pointsof presence set a June deadlinefor agencies to make their networkscompliant.

No. 7: KBR adds it up

Skills plus experience equals success under pressure.

No. 14: ITT maps its future

Acquisitions, contract wins reach for the sky.

ITT defense chief Gaffney moves on

After 10 years at ITT Corp., Steve Gaffney, president of ITT Defense and Electronics, has stepped down to take on a leadership role at a private-equity firm.

KBR nabs two in one week

KBR started at its doorstep and then went halfway around the world this week to buy a turnaround management consultancy and an e-learning provider.

Q & A | More than partners

Cartwright says the business world taught him how to go global.

What else is in the blend?

A blended workforce is more than contractors, embedded or otherwise.

Embedded but delicately balanced

Contractors and civil servants work side by side, but each presents distinct management challenges.

No. 8: Fluor's ready in a pinch

Texas construction and engineering firm comes when disaster calls.

No. 4: KBR gets down to business

From laundry to logistics, Kellogg Brown and Root Inc. takes on tough tasks.

Profile: Al Nashman | Sightlines

'Dean of systems integration' Al Nashman had an unclouded view of the industry's future.

Special Report | Channel leaders: No excuses but give your best

Like an arrow stripped of everything superfluous to its purpose, Bhaskaran Jayaraman is first and foremost IT director of Avineon Inc. And the accomplishment he is most proud of? He doesn't hesitate a nanosecond: "I have a 100 percent retention rate for my staff over the past three years."

No. 14: Verizon-MCI combination packs a punch

The sale of MCI Inc. to Verizon Communications Inc. is a done deal, and the merger is progressing smoothly with the strengths and services of each company dovetailing nicely.

No. 9: Booz Allen adapts to stay on top

Say you're quite a successful company ? when it comes to the Defense Department, you are Mr. DOD Consultant, but you also have an oar in civilian agency waters and many oars in private and other public sector waters worldwide. You're respected in the industry for doing well by doing good, and doing so for more than 90 years.

Level 3 to buy WilTel

Level 3 Communications Inc. has agreed to buy Internet services provider WilTel Communications Group LLC for $370 million in cash and 115 million shares of Level 3 common stock.

Health IT standards-setting commission members named

Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt has named the 16 members of the public-private organization that will set standards for exchanging health care data.