The Navy on Wednesday said it is moving back the award schedule of the Navy and Marine Corps’ next generation information technology (IT) services contract re-compete award to late 2018.
The new award schedule is for the Next Generation Enterprise Network Re-compete (NGEN-R) primary contracts, which are “evolutionary” follow-ons to the current NGEN contract.
NGEN is the Navy Department’s current enterprise-wide IT services contract vehicle. It provides IT services to the Navy and Marine Corps users in the continental United States (CONUS) via the Navy Marine Corps Internet (NMCI) and the Marine Corps Enterprise Network (MCEN). The NMCI represents about 70 percent of the department’s IT operations.
The current NGEN contract was originally awarded to Hewlett Packard [HPQ] in June 2013 and runs out in June 2018. The Navy hopes that by splitting the contract into two with NGEN-R, it can drive down costs. The two new prime contractors will be required to work together.
NGEN-R aims to add IT services to Navy personnel outside CONUS (OCONUS) through the OCONUS Navy Enterprise Network (ONE-Net).
Primary NGEN-R contracts cover end user hardware (EUHW), including hardware-as-a-service and hardware-for-purchase; and service management, integration, and transport which includes print services, software core build services, service desk, and computer network defense.
Other NGEN-R goals include improved cyber security, increased bandwidth, better collaboration tools, faster insertion of new technology and greater use of cloud computing.
The Navy said that now rather than award two primary contracts by June 2018, the acquisition schedule will contract awards in late 2018. Under this new setup, the EUHW contract is planned for a Nov. 2018 award and SMIT is planned to be awarded in Dec. 2018.
The Navy’s program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO-EIS) said “the schedule change allows for the implementation of a new “sprint” contract development process that includes significant interaction with industry through weekly industry conference calls, one-on-one industry question and answer sessions, and a forthcoming Engineering Day.”
PEO-EIS overseas enterprise-wide IT programs meant to help provide IT capabilities to sailors, marines, and support systems.
PEO-EIS argued the new increased industry interaction will encourage and promote industry input early in the process, which will help develop better acquisition documents for both industry and government participants.
The Navy said it will provide further details at a media roundtable next week.
Navy officials previously said that while prime contractor candidates will likely have to be large companies, the program has robust goals for small business participation (Defense Daily, Jan. 25). Over $300 million a year, or 35 percent of the current NGEN contract, goes to small business.