VA hopes to transform IT systems with T4 contract
The Veterans Affairs Department laid out several goals for its ambitious $12 billion "T4" IT acquisitions contract.
The Veterans Affairs Department hopes to provide veterans with seamless access to benefits and health information systems, from the time they join the military until retirement, through the $12 billion Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology acquisition program, known as T4.
The 14 awardees of the contract will take part in developing a common joint platform for digital medical profiles with the Defense Department over the next six to 10 years.
Other VA goals to be addressed under the T4 procurement include reducing the backlog of benefits claims and fulfilling the Veterans Relationship Management and the Veterans Benefits Management System initiatives.
The VA, in a fact sheet dated July 1, said T4 is a tool for streamlining acquisitions and for filling in potential holes in services during those times when old systems are being modernized, but new systems are not yet fully operational.
T4 will enable VA “to meet those goals by closing gaps in acquiring services that will transform programs. By making the procurement of critically needed services easier and more rapid. T4 will minimize the potential for gaps in services that can occur using traditional acquisition processes,” the department said.
Overall, the T4 program is expected to fulfill multiple IT management goals. “The T4 program will be a single focal point for managing the multiple contracts; give VA access to the best industry capabilities without the traditional long acquisition lead time; and help the department meet its Veteran small-business goals,” the department said in a July 1 news release.
VA officials also said the T4 contract aligns with acquisition reform strategic planning initiatives.
T4 “provides a contract vehicle that will allow the Office of Information Technology to benefit from a program that can rapidly respond to requirement needs and avoid service gaps,” the VA said in the fact sheet. “T4 will provide a savings to the government, as well as to the taxpayer, as the acquisition process is streamlined, reduces contract administration, and provides a competitive post award environment.”
The total T4 program will consist of 15 prime contracts over five years, including seven awards for service-disabled veteran small businesses and veteran-owned small businesses, officials said in the news release on July 1. The 15th contract currently is being held until resolution of a protest filed with the Government Accountability Office.
All the selected companies will compete for task orders to integrate VA systems, network and software to modernize the VA’s information technology infrastructure. The services and products may span the life-cycle of a computer system, and include program planning and management, systems and software engineering, cybersecurity, operation and maintenance, and support to facilities.
The contract winners are:
- Booz Allen Hamilton, Red Bank, NJ.
- CACI-ISS, Inc., Chantilly, VA.
- Harris Corporation, Melbourne, FL.
- Systems Research and Applications Corporation, Fairfax, VA.
- Creative Computing Solutions, Inc. (CCSi), Rockville, MD 20850.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services, LLC, Herndon, VA.
- ASM Research Inc., Fairfax, VA.
- Systems Made Simple, Syracuse, NY.
- Firstview Federal TS, Rockville, MD.
- Information Innovators, Springfield, VA.
- 7 Delta, Fulton, MD.
- By Light, Arlington, VA.
- Technatomy, Fairfax, VA.
- Adams Communications & Engineering Technology, Waldorf, MD.