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As of July 2007, Raytheon Technical Services held the US Army contract for live training support, Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) carries the contract for virtual training (simulators), and General Dynamics the one for constructive training (computer models & game-like simulations). More than 3,400 contractors served more than 150 manned sites and 458 unmanned sites with training devices world-wide.

The U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office, Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO-STRI) office has been working for the last couple of years on a new approach that does away with the 3 domains, in order to put the full focus on delivering whatever training support is needed and appropriate, in whatever manner works best. The Warfighter Field Operations Customer Support (Warfighter FOCUS) contract would consolidate operations, maintenance, systems integration and engineering support services for the Army’s live, virtual and constructive training systems into a single 10-year, $11-12 billion package once existing contracts expire on Oct 31/07.

On one side was the Warrior Training Alliance (WTA), led by prime contractor Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC and Computer Sciences Corporation. One the other side was the Warfighter FOCUS Alliance (WFA), led by General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Saab. Each team had a roster that included other major and minor players, and DID details both teams below. The winner was the Raytheon-led WTA, and integration is now proceeding…

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FORTUNE Magazine has released its annual list of America’s Most Admired Companies, and a number of defense-related firms find themselves noted in the data. To quote FORTUNE re: their methodology:

“The Most Admired list is the definitive report card on corporate reputations. Our survey partners at Hay Group started with the FORTUNE 1,000 – the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue – and the top foreign ones operating in the U.S. Hay sorted them by industry and selected the ten largest in each. To create the 63 industry lists, Hay asked executives, directors, and analysts to rate companies in their own industry on eight criteria, from investment value to social responsibility. Only the best are listed as most admired: A company’s score must rank in the top half of its industry survey. Ranks for the rest of the contenders are available online only.”

The criteria evidently managed to completely exclude key global defense & aerospace players with notable US businesses/revenues, including BAE Systems and EADS (which includes Airbus & Eurocopter). This is a major pair of omissions, to say the least. Methodology flaws aside, firms that made the cut in their sectors and do a lot of work in our industry – or were on the receiving end of cutting ratings – included:

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Back in March 2005, DID noted that the US Army had narrowed the field for its $20 billion ITES-2 IT contract to 17 potential prime contractors. At the time, we also noted the Army’s plan to issue the formal RFP in May 2005. Later, in April 2005, DID covered Kevin Carroll, “the $36 billion man” who leads the office in charge of ITES and ITES-2 as the Army pursued its vision of a major long-term contract vehicle for a wide range of information technology and computing services.

In September 2005, The U.S. Army has released its RFP for its $20 billion Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-2 Services program via the Army Small Computer Program, the Army Contracting Agency, and the Information Technology, E-Commerce, and Commercial Contracting Center. After that, things didn’t go as well. A major kerfuffle and 2 rounds of GAO protests followed the award, which led to a revised list of winners in November 2006.

This happened a while back, by DID hadn’t updated our ITES-2 RFP coverage, and the whole episode is instructive in some ways. See below for DID’s spotlight article and timeline re: ITES-2 – which doesn’t end in November 2006…

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The US General Services Administration (GSA) is a procurement hub for many US government agencies. In late July 2007, the GSA announced a continued special focus on easing acquisitions for its largest customer, the Department of Defense (who has some surprising most-requested GSA items), including the launch of a full DoD/GSA portal site.

They’ve also just announced the selection of 29 firms for award under the maximum $50 billion Alliant Governmentwide Acquisition Contract. The Alliant umbrella contract provides all US federal government agencies, including the Pentagon, with a centralized source to acquire integrated Information Technology (IT) solutions worldwide. The contract has a 5-year base period with a 5-year option period, and replaces two similar contracts set to expire: Millenia, and ANSWER (Applications ‘N Support for Widely diverse End user Requirements)....

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In February 2006, “Small Businesses Succeeding As USAF’s $9B NetCents Contract Receives Promo Push” shone a spotlight on the Network Centric Solutions (NETCENTS) program. Recently, a Northrop Grumman-led team received a large NETCENTS award – a maximum $267 million task order from the US Army to develop Defense Knowledge Online (DKO). The Army already has its own Army Knowledge Online (AKO) system; DKO is envisioned as the entry point for all U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and authorized users worldwide to access DoD and government intranets supporting operations, missions and critical support processes. DKO applications will all be provided through a secure, service-oriented framework, as opposed to the standard I.T. approach of stovepiped applications and non-prioritized bandwidth.

This is the largest portal task order ever awarded by the US federal government, and Northrop Grumman’s many teammates on the contract include:

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Air strike… priceless
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Back in August 2005, we noted that “ENCORE I.T. Contracts Raise Ceiling to $2.5B Until ENCORE II Arrives.” Services under ENCORE II will include high level enterprise IT policy, integration management, communications engineering, and asset management. According to the Encore II RFP, DISA intends to use the contract to support users in the military services and agencies as they transition from legacy systems to Net-Centric Enterprise Services (NCES), which embodies the new techno-organizational opportunities described above. Encore II will help them effectively use core NCES product lines, including collaboration and discovery tools, and a planned joint services knowledge portal. That’s the vision, anyway. In January 2006, we followed that up with “Pentagon’s $13 Bn “Encore II” RFP Gets Revised, Extended,” explaining the ENCORE vision, its origins, and its likely obstacles.

Now the wait is over. Six (6) companies have now received indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity multiple-awards contracts. They include provisions for Firm, Fixed-Price, Time-and-Materials or Labor-Hour and Cost-Reimbursement (CPFF, CPAF, etc), and will run from March 12, 2007 through March 11, 2017. The maximum not-to-exceed value for the ENCORE II contract over a 5-year period, plus 5 one-year option period, is $12.225 billion, slightly less than the $13 billion projected. Performance will be at various locations within the Continental United States (CONUS), and also outside the CONUS (OCONUS). The solicitation was issued as a full and open competitive action with 16 proposals received – but the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization DITCO) at Scott AFB, IL picked just 6 winners:

• Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. (HC1013-07-D-2016)
• CACI, Inc (HC1013-07-D-2018)
• EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation (HC1013-07-D-2019)
• Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Inc. (HC1013-07-D-2020)
• SAIC, Science Applications International Corporation (HC1013-07-D-2021)
• Systems Research and Applications Corporation (HC1013-07-D-2022)
  
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On October 6, 2000, the US Navy awarded a 5-year contract for Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) services to EDS for an estimated 412,000 – 416,000 seats and minimum value of $4.1 billion. The original contract also included a 3-year option for an additional $2.8 billion in services, bringing the potential total contract value to $6.9 billion. Extensions and restructuring have made it a 10-year, $9.3 billion information technology services program. Through a contract that contains numerous performance-based incentives, the Navy is buying network (intranet), application, and other hardware and software services at a fixed price per end user (“seat”) to support about 550 sites. As a form of perspective, for FY 2006 the US Navy’s IT budget was about $5.8 billion, which included funding for the development, operation, and maintenance of Navy-owned IT systems, as well as funding for contractor-provided IT services and programs like NMCI.

The US Government Accountability Office has issued a number of reports during NMCI’s lifetime, some of which have been helpful in refocusing the program. The 2003 report “DOD Needs to Leverage Lessons Learned from Its Outsourcing Projects (GAO-03-371),” which looked at leading commercial outsourcing practices and noted discrepancies, is a good example.

Their December 8, 2006 report “DOD Needs to Ensure That Navy Marine Corps Intranet Program Is Meeting Goals and Satisfying Customers” (GAO-07-51) attempts to match NMCI’s strategic goals to its performance measurements under the contract’s service level agreements (SLAs). The result is a 114-page auditor’s report that will offer readers many useful details about NMCI as a program and identifies some of its shortfalls and challenges, but falls short as an attempt to ascertain NMCI’s broad success or failure. That would require more use of the commercial auditing industry’s growing practice of using industry or project comparables for perspective, and noting leading practices and common pitfalls in order to offer a comparison based on peer as well as internal criteria. It would also assess the initial performance measurements themselves as a subject for inquiry, since it is common practice for understanding of what can and should be measured to change sharply once an intranet is implemented and running. Readers who persevere to the very end of the report, for instance, will find a Navy response that outlines a number of ‘surprise’ spinouts from the NMCI effort. As such, they are unmeasured under the original criteria of the SLAs and could not figure in the GAO’s report. They are nevertheless significant, and represent possible targets for future measurement that could help answer the strategic value question in a more comprehensive way. The GAO report may be found here.

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Electronic Data Systems Corp. in Herndon, VA received a $3.12 billion modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (N00024-00-D-6000). It exercises an option for three additional years of Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) services, in particular seat management services across the US Navy and Marine Corps.

The option, which is being exercised subject to the availability of funds, will extend the period of performance of the contract from October 2007 through September 2010. Work will be performed at Navy and Marine Corps installations and bases across the country and in the Far East. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, in San Diego, CA issued the contract.

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The USA’s Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) has picked up a fourth year option with Electronic Data Systems Corp. in Herndon, VA. This indefinite delivery contract (MDA210-02-D-0001) has a maximum face value of $12.2 million, and covers production support, hardware/software support and system improvements for electronic data management. This brings the aggregate value of the contract to a maximum of $59.6 million.

Work will be performed at DFAS Columbus, OH; DFAS Indianapolis, IN; DFAS Omaha, NB; and DFAS Charleston, SC. Under this option, work will be performed between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2006. Funding includes nine months of fiscal 2006 dollars and three months of fiscal 2007 dollars, to be issued by task orders. The DFAS Contract Services Directorate in Columbus OH issued the contract (MDA210-02-D-0001).

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Electronic Data Systems in Herndon, VA received an $8 million modification to a fixed-price-incentive with award fee contract for Implementation of the Command Communications Survivability Program Systems Integration Effort.

The foundation for CCSP was laid in the first days after 9/11…

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