Army readies infostructure RFP

The Army on Monday is expected to release a request for proposals (RFP) on an $800 million project to overhaul nearly every aspect of the service's information technology infrastructure.

The IT Enterprise Solutions (ITES) contract is a key piece in the Army Enterprise Infostructure Transformation program, which is designed to reduce the cost of maintaining information systems while improving access to information and applications.

"Monday is the intent," said Col. Wells Barlow deputy program executive officer for the Army's Enterprise Information Systems, in a phone interview today. "All of these things need to be cleared by [the Pentagon]. I don't think it will be an issue [because] it's just formally closing the loop."

The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract will have up to five vendors in each of its two modules: enterprise hardware solutions and enterprise mission support services solutions, said Kevin Carroll, program executive officer for the Army's Enterprise Information Systems. Contractors can bid on one or multiple modules, but two awards for mission-support services are reserved for small businesses, he said.

The contract is designed to "meet the evolving requirements for commercial IT products and services to support the Army's worldwide mission," Carroll said earlier this year.

The total estimated value of the contract is $800 million, which is up from last summer's estimate of $500 million, Steve Miller, product leader with the Army Small Computer Program who is leading the ITES acquisition, told FCW earlier this year.

Following Jan. 22 remarks at an executive breakfast sponsored by Federal Sources Inc., a McLean, Va., consulting firm, and Federal Computer Week, Carroll said the Army was expecting to issue "in the March timeframe, an RFP for ITES that will include both pieces."

Although the RFP is coming out about two weeks later than expected, the Army still hopes to award the contracts this summer, Barlow said.