Encore III | The Contracting Education Academy

September 13, 2016 By AMK

Following bid protest, DISA re-releases $17.5 billion solicitation

The Defense Department’s IT arm is again accepting bids for its controversial Encore III contract that could buy as much as $17.5 billion worth of IT services to support the Pentagon’s modernization effort.

DISA Contractors now have until Sept. 30 to revise and submit proposals for Encore III, which has been updated by DISA to adhere to recommendations the Government Accountability Office made in sustaining spring protests by CACI and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Encore III earned ire from industry groups earlier this year because it sought “lowest price, technically acceptable” solutions for potentially complex services, which many felt contradicted a directive from Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall. That directive outlined situations when it would be OK to use LPTA, such as commodity hardware purchases.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2016/09/following-bid-protest-disa-re-releases-175b-contract/131386

August 12, 2016 By AMK

GAO sustains protests of $17.5 billion DISA contract

Encore III, a controversial contract before the Defense Department began soliciting bids from industry to purchase up to $17.5 billion in IT services, received its strongest rebuke yet – this time from the Government Accountability Office.

The contract supports the department’s Joint Information Environment, a massive IT modernization project to globally connect the military services and defense agencies to supply “information on demand,” as the RFP states.

GAO announced last week it upheld pre-award bid protests from contractors CACI and Booz Allen Hamilton on grounds that the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) – the Pentagon’s IT arm – failed on two grounds “to provide a reasonable basis for comparing the cost of competing proposals.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2016/08/gao-sustains-bid-protests-175-billion-disa-contract/130519

May 20, 2016 By AMK

Defense IT contract rekindles pricing complaints

What’s not to like about the U.S. government offering information technology vendors $17.5 billion for products and services?

The opportunity is attractive, and many vendors have expressed interest in a U.S. Department of Defense contract that covers the acquisition of a broad range of IT capabilities. Offered through the Defense Information Systems Agency, or DISA, a request for proposals for the Encore III contract was issued in March. Bids were accepted through late April.

However, the contract generated angst about the terms DISA will use to select vendors. The complaints include a public letter to the department from business organizations representing IT companies.

In fact, DISA may have to suspend the RFP as a result of legal challenges. Booz Allen Hamilton and CACI separately have submitted protests to the General Accountability Office related to what they consider unacceptable provisions of DISA’s proposal.

The terms of the RFP are “ambiguous, inconsistent with law, and unsuitable for the type of procurement,” said Sharon Larkin, an attorney with Steptoe & Johnson, representing CACI.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83492.html

May 10, 2016 By AMK

Contracting groups blast ‘flawed’ approach to $17.5 billion Pentagon contract

Two industry groups who together represent a multitude of defense and IT contractors have taken issue with the Pentagon’s choice to source its $17.5 billion Encore III contract through the “lowest price, technically acceptable” selection process.

The Professional Services Council and the IT Alliance for the Public Sector outlined their concerns in a letter last week to Undersecretary of Defense Frank Kendall. The letter urged the Pentagon and its IT arm – the Defense Information Systems Agency – to change the procurement, which went out to bid in March.

The contract aims to deliver a slew of high-end IT services, including application development, cybersecurity and business process reengineering, which – as the letter notes – appears to contradict a memo Kendall released last March dictating proper use of LPTA.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2016/05/contracting-groups-lpta-poor-choice-pentagons-175b-contract/128003

The Defense Department’s IT arm is again accepting bids for its controversial Encore III contract that could buy as much as $17.5 billion worth of IT services to support the Pentagon’s modernization effort.

Encore III, a controversial contract before the Defense Department began soliciting bids from industry to purchase up to $17.5 billion in IT services, received its strongest rebuke yet – this time from the Government Accountability Office.

What’s not to like about the U.S. government offering information technology vendors $17.5 billion for products and services?

Two industry groups who together represent a multitude of defense and IT contractors have taken issue with the Pentagon’s choice to source its $17.5 billion Encore III contract through the “lowest price, technically acceptable” selection process.

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