Energy Department Awards $2 Billion IT Services Contract

The Energy Department awarded Accenture Federal Services with a contract worth up to $2 billion to provide business operations support services and help accelerate the department’s modernization priorities, according to a statement released Monday.

The decision comes nearly two months after the Government Accountability Office rejected a bid protest regarding Energy’s evaluation of the potential vendors for the contract.

Offered as a blanket purchase order agreement with a five-year performance period, Energy’s Chief Information Office Business Operations Support Services, or CBOSS, contract is set to cover general IT support, telecommunications, cybersecurity, systems architecture and engineering and shared services. Under the contract’s terms, Accenture will assist the department in migrating from an on-premise service model to a cloud-based IT services model that incorporates commercially available products and services.

In a statement, Accenture’s Chief Executive John Goodman said the company is looking forward to helping Energy strengthen its IT security environment and achieve greater flexibility through the cloud. “DOE has clearly charted a new course to get to the cloud—one where the office of the CIO will embrace innovative approaches, new models, and emerging technologies to put its end-user customers at the center,” he said.

In order to “deliver the master scope of work needed for the CBOSS contract,” the company also said it has formed a contractor teaming arrangement with three companies, Unisys, General Dynamics Information Technology and Red River, which specialize in various security, cloud and communications services.

Energy originally released a request for quotations around the project in November 2017 and six vendors submitted their own prior to the department’s deadline in March 2018. In December 2018, one vendor who responded to the RFQ, ActioNet Inc., filed a bid protest in regards to the agency’s evaluation and source selection.

GAO denied ActioNet’s protest in March 2019, stating that after considering all allegations raised, it found “no basis to sustain the protest.”

Accenture has also recently found itself in hot water with one of the largest rental car brands, Hertz. The company is currently suing Accenture for a breach of contract, alleging it failed to deliver when Hertz hired it to redesign its website and mobile apps.

"We believe the allegations in this lawsuit are without merit, and we will vigorously defend our position," an Accenture spokesperson told Nextgov. 

Earlier this month, the Customs and Border Protection opted to “terminate for convenience” a contract with Accenture worth up to almost $300 million for hiring up to 7,500 new border personnel over five years. As of December, the company helped bring on 36 employees, according to a Government Executive report.

Editor's note: This article was updated with comment from Accenture and to clarify details about the CBP contract.