The DoD’s cloud strategy indicates opportunities for cloud service providers beyond the controversial JEDI contract and another major DHS contract is being recompeted through GSA. All this and more in Public Spend Forum’s Weekly Roundup for February 8, 2019.
GSA Issues Draft RFQ for Potential $7.8B DEOS Cloud Blanket Purchase Agreement
The General Services Administration (GSA) released a draft request for quotation (RFQ) for a potential 10-year, $7.8 billion single-award blanket purchase agreement (BPA) to provide an enterprise cloud service for the Department of Defense. A FedBizOpps notice says the Defense Enterprise Office Solution firm-fixed-price BPA under GSA’s Information Technology Schedule 70 seeks to provide DoD with an integrated cloud platform for communications, productivity, and collaboration. According to the draft RFQ, GSA will evaluate potential vendors based on proposed technical or management approach, past performance and price.
Does New DoD Cloud Strategy Offer Opportunities?
The Department of Defense’s (DoD) cloud strategy indicates further opportunities for cloud service providers beyond the controversial Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract, but challenges may still remain. “The scale of the enterprise cloud makes it likely that only very large cloud service providers can offer the scale of resources needed to facilitate a rapid transition to a cloud-based architecture,” Bill Schneider, president of International Planning Services, Inc. and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Federal Times. Still, for cloud service providers that aren’t looking to be on the “main stage” of the DoD’s move to cloud, the fit-for-purpose category may still offer some solid pieces of business.
Another Major DHS Contract Being Recompeted Through GSA
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is about to release the solicitation for its up to $100 million Enterprise Gateway and Integration Services (EGIS) contract, but the agency isn’t planning for a full and open competition. USCIS intends to award the major modernization contract to vendors with offerings on the General Services Administration’s IT Schedule 70. USCIS procurement officials had been considering a shift in acquisition strategy ahead of the presolicitation announcement. The move to Schedule 70, rather than a full and open competition for a unique vehicle, mirrors that of other government agencies in the last year. Even the Department of Homeland Security is looking more toward shared acquisition services, as the department moved to governmentwide acquisition vehicles for the next generation of the Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading-Edge Solutions contract vehicle.
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