The beginning of fiscal year 2014 saw a rocky start. The government shut down for more than two weeks, affecting hundreds of thousands of federal employees and pushing back the contracting schedule. During the shutdown, contracts dropped by one-third and spending saw a 40 percent reduction.
Last year saw the lowest number in total contract value since 2006, at $92.2 billion — fiscal year 2014 surpassed that by $68.5 billion. Total IT opportunities account for 45 percent of the total contract value, at $73 billion, thanks to some big players such as the Department of Health and Human Services, Army and the Defense Department who have very large indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts this year.
Jennifer Sakole, principal analyst with the federal information services team at Deltek, said the Army’s Strategic Services Sourcing 2nd generation, S32G, is one of the most significant IT contracts for FY 2014, largely because of its $30 billion ceiling value.
“The ceiling value of the original S3 program was $19.5 billion, so the S32G follow-on value indicates the department’s confidence in continued, and perhaps even increased, utilization,” Sakole told FedScoop. “The current S3 program is the Army’s most utilized IT contract, accounting for 14 percent of the department’s IT spending in FY 2012.”
Because it is exclusively used by the Army’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance customers, she said contractors should consider it in their FY 2014 pipeline.
A main difference in federal opportunities between this year and last is the nature of the contracts. Sokale referred to last year as the “year of the Government-Wide Acquisition Contract, featuring high-value contracts like General Services Administration’s OASIS, HHS’ CIO-CS and NASA’s SEWP.” This year features more agency-specific IDIQs, including Army’s S32G and ITES-3S CHESS, at $30 and $24 billion, respectively.
“One thing that really surprised me was that HHS’ CIO-CS was not released in FY 2013, and was pushed to a FY 2014 release,” Sakole said. “In the summer, the government had seemed confident that the solicitation would release in August, but here we are in the early part of December and it still has not been issued, presumably due to the pending GWAC approval.”
In FY 2014, professional services opportunities are slightly higher than IT opportunities, at $73.2 billion. However, the average value of a FY 2014 top IT opportunity is $14.6 billion, and the average value of top professional services opportunities is $7.3 billion.
Below, is the list of the top 8 federal IT contract opportunities for FY 2014, compiled by FedScoop. (Deltek’s list of top 20 federal opportunities for FY 2014 can be found here.)
Strategic Services Sourcing 2nd Generation
Army, Army Materiel Command, Communications Electronics Command
$30 billion
This is a continuing requirement for S32G services to support command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance customers at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The contract is only available only to Army customers within the C4ISR. So far, spending to date is up to $14.2 billion. A majority of the reported obligations, 27 percent, have been received by CACI, 22 percent by ManTech International and 17 percent by CSC.
Information Technology Enterprise Solutions 3 Services
Army, Asst. Secretary for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, PEO Enterprise Information Systems
$25 billion
The ITES-2S CHESS is the follow-on to ITES-2S, which covers the full range of solutions and services the Army needs to provide support to its enterprise infrastructure and “info-structure” goals with IT services worldwide. The top contractors on this contract have been Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, SAIC, Lockheed Martin and CACI. Spending has totaled $7.8 billion so far.
Rapid Response 4th Generation
Army, Army Materiel Command, Communications Electronics Command
$16.4 billion
This R2-4G program is a follow-on to the R2-3G program and stems from a requirement for rapid response services to support critical systems requirements for the Command and Control Systems Integration Directorate. Spending on the current rapid response program totals $799 million, and this latest version is expected to be very similar to the current program.
Chief Information Officer – Commodity Solutions
Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Health Information Technology and Assessment Center
$10 billion
The intent of the CIO-CS contract is to provide IT solutions and commodities to meet scientific, health, operational, managerial, administrative and information management requirements. This opportunity was included in the Top 20 Federal Opportunities for FY 2013, but Deltek confirmed that solicitation is expected to be released in FY 2014. This is primarily an IT commodities contract.
Research, Management, Assessment, Design and Analysis IDIQ
HHS, CMS, Office of Acquisitions and Grants Management
$7 billion
This is a new requirement, created as the need for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expanded. The work awarded under the RMADA will include the “design, implementation and evaluation of a broad range of research and/or payment and service delivery models to test their potential for reducing expenditures for Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program, and uninsured beneficiaries while maintaining or improving quality of care.” Deltek expects solicitation to begin early in the first quarter of FY 2014, and it’s anticipated to be an open and full competition.
Enhanced Solutions for the Information Technology Enterprise
Defense Department, Defense Intelligence Agency
$6 billion
The E-SITE contract is a follow-on to the SITE contract at DIA, which provides global coverage for IT requirements and technical support services that support the government. SITE supports several agencies such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, among many others.
Traffic Flow Management System 2
Transportation Department, Federal Aviation Administration
$4.15 billion
This is a continuing FAA requirement for Traffic Flow and Enterprise Management Integrated Product Team modernization of the TFM system. The TFM system provides automated tools that enable data sharing, congestion management, arrival/departure management and system impact and performance assessment. Spending on this system has totaled up to $400 million since FY 2007.
Biowatchgen3 Phase II
Department of Homeland Security, Office of Secretary, Office of Health Affairs
$3.11 billion
This contract includes the acquirement of “autonomous biodetectors, for both indoor and outdoor use, that continuously monitor the air for agents of biological concern (24 hours per day, 365 days per year), and all necessary IT, equipment, consumables and technical support for the nationwide deployment, operations and maintenance of this autonomous biodetection capability in support of the BioWatch Program.” BioWatch Gen 3 Phase II is a continuation of Phase I, but with a new requirement. It has no incumbent contracts. Awardees for Phase I were Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International and Northrop Grumman.
