FBI Drops Full and Open Competition for $5 Billion IT Recompete

The competitive pool for the FBI’s $5 billion IT commodity and services contract has been shrinking throughout the year and recently got even smaller.

Rather than hold a full and open competition for spots on the Information Technology Supplies and Support Services contract, also known as ITSSS or IT Triple-S, the bureau announced Friday that spots will be awarded to vendors that already hold contracts on the General Services Administration’s IT Schedule 70.

Bureau contracting officials have been scaling back the contract as they’ve gathered market research through requests for information and industry days. After initial rumors the contract would be split into multiple parts for services like cloud computing and cybersecurity, the bureau announced in April that ITSSS would remain a single contract made up of multiple tracks.

The track structure remains in the latest revision, however, the blanket purchase agreement will now only include vendors with pre-vetted tools and services being offered on Schedule 70, further narrowing the competitive pool.

FBI contracting officials are also considering changing the tracks to better align with Technology Business Management, a private sector framework for matching IT development and implementation to specific business outcomes. The administration called out the framework in the President’s Management Agenda, which includes a mandate for all agencies to be using TBM by 2022.

The six tracks now being proposed are:

• end-user services;
• business application services;
• delivery services;
• platform services;
• infrastructure services; and
• emerging services.

The bureau expects to award between 15 and 22 spots on each of the six tracks, for a total of between 90 and 132 awards, though a single company could win spots on multiple tracks. Each track will include 10 to 15 large businesses and five to seven small businesses.

The final request for proposals will have more details, though the bureau did not offer a timeline for what that solicitation will be released.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct the total possible number of awards.