DHS Takes 'Corrective Action' on Agile Contract Experiment
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Two companies were removed from the list.
The Homeland Security Department has reconsidered which companies are eligible to sell it agile software development services.
DHS’ $1.5 billion contracting vehicle, called Flexible Agile Support for the Homeland, or FLASH, has removed two companies from the original 13 pre-approved vendor list.
FLASH is an experimental contracting system, similar to tech consultancy 18F’s Agile Blanket Purchase Agreement, which aims to make it easier for agencies to buy software development services. It also aims to promote companies that haven’t traditionally sold to government, DHS officials have said.
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The department awarded the original 13 companies spots on FLASH in November, but protests from at least eight companies who were excluded halted its progress. DHS took “corrective action” in response to those protests, according to a FedBizOpps posting, and removed EDC Consulting and EImagine IT from the list.
Those companies “are no longer eligible for an award and no additional new awards were made,” the posting said.
The FLASH contract was "intended to be a pilot," DHS Chief Information Officer Luke McCormack said at an AFCEA event over the summer.
“We’re going to put FLASH out there … and will probably have a FLASH 2.0," he said.
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