Army lifts curtains on planned $1B software development contract

The Army has started to develop a new software development support services contract with a touted ceiling value north of $1 billion over 10 years.

A new sources sought notice describes the New Modern Software Development IDIQ as a means to hire a group of contractors that can perform the work on rapidly-awarded task orders as they come.

At this juncture, the Army plans to choose up to 10 companies in total that include those reserved for small businesses.

The Army also envisions holding an on-ramp process to bring more contractors into the fold, along with the potential of off-ramps to move away from those with high rates of unsuccessful task order proposals or no bids.

Customization is a key element of the requirements, whether that be in the development of a new product or the modification of a current offering. Awardees will also be responsible for enabling software-as-a-service hosting and security.

The Army is emphasizing modern software development practices that include DevSecOps, Agile, lean and continuous integration/continuous delivery.

At the same time, the Army's list of questions in the request for information also asks about other areas of software development it should include in the contract.

A second key question worth highlighting is whether interested parties can provide examples or recommendations of how to use experience in coding challenges to establish employee qualifications. The Army sees that approach as a potential alternative to certifications and proposals, depending on the answers, of course.

Significant question number three to call out zeroes in on the two-phase evaluation approach the Army is mulling for this requirement.

For phase two, the Army is considering technology challenges versus demonstrations as the focus there. The Army wants to know what respondents think about that.

Responses to the RFI are due June 10.