Navy delays release of Next-Generation Enterprise Network Contract

The Navy has pushed back the procurement launch for its Next-Generation Enterprise Network from Dec. 21 until the end of January 2012. The contract is valued at between $7 billion and $10 billion over five years.

Capt. Shawn Hendricks, program manager for the Naval Enterprise Networks Program Management Office, said responses from industry and government to a draft request for proposals issued in September are still being evaluated.

"The program office is diligently working to fully address all of the industry and [Navy] stakeholder comments received as a result of our release of the NGEN draft RFP, as well as the release of thousands of pages of additional documents and details," Hendricks said in a statement.

The NGEN program office will use these responses to help solidify requirements that will go into the final RFP.

NGEN will replace the Navy Marine Corps Intranet, a $10 billion, 10-year contract awarded in 2000 to EDS, now HP Enterprise Services. In July 2010, the Navy awarded HP a $3.4 billion continuity of services contract to keep NMCI in operation through 2015.

Hendricks described NGEN at an October conference as the largest federal information technology contract that he is aware of today, designed to provide commercial applications and network connections to more than 400,000 computers and more than 750,000 Navy and Marine Corps end users.