Education goes for performance

Education Department officials like performance-based contracts and will seek bids for a large one for network support services, the department's chief technology officer said today.

Stephen Fletcher, Education's chief technology officer, said department officials expect to release a request for proposals early next year for a network support services award to follow the current EDNet Technology Services contract. The contract will set performance standards and incentives for the winning bidder to hold the contract for up to 10 years.

The incumbent is Science Applications International Corp.

Although Education officials are among the biggest users of schedule contracts, they also like performance contracts and do not hesitate to use them, Fletcher said. For information technology outsourcing at the department, "it's all about performance and results," he said.

Fletcher spoke at a breakfast meeting in Falls Church, Va., sponsored by Input, a market research company. He said department officials expect IT outsourcing to expand by about 5 percent a year for the next five years.