Huge Bidder Pile-On for VA’s $22.3 Billion Tech Deal

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

If all these interested vendors actually submit a bid, the VA acquisition folks will have to go into overtime to weed through all the paper.

The number of companies that have expressed interest in bidding on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation contract -- known as T4NG -- hit 635 vendors Tuesday, according to a VA spreadsheet.

The list of interested bidders ranges alphabetically from A1C Partners LLC to Yakshna Solutions and is dominated by small-business hopefuls. VA plans to award up to 20 indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts under T4NG, which will run for an initial five years with an option for another five years

VA has reserved eight awards for companies owned by veterans: four for veteran-owned small business and four for service-disabled, veteran-owned small business. Another four awards are reserved for other small business firms, including woman-owned companies.

If all these interested vendors actually submit a bid, the VA acquisition folks will have to go into overtime to weed through all the paper.