GSA releases Millennia Lite RFP

The General Services Administration this week released the final request for proposals on its latest multibillion-dollar contract for information technology services and plans to use performance to determine whether a vendor receives a contract extension.

The $20 billion Millennia Lite contract is the companion contract to the GSA Federal Technology Service's $25 billion Millennia indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. Under Millennia Lite, vendors will provide IT services in four areas: IT planning and studies under assessment; high-end IT services; services related to current regional mission support services; and legacy systems migration and new enterprise systems development. Responses are due Dec. 6.

Millennia Lite marks GSA's first use of a contracting method developed by the Air Force called award-term contracting. Award-term contracting is a form of performance-based contracting similar to award-fee contracting in which a vendor is rewarded for good performance. Rather than paying a vendor for meeting certain performance measures, under award-term contracting a vendor's contract term can be extended, shortened or cut off completely.

GSA has developed a 12-page document describing and defining the responsibilities of vendors and an award-term organization made up of a contract-term official and award-term review board. Each vendor will start out with an award of three years that can be extended to more than 10 years. The award-term organization will review each contract after 18 months and then once every year on a series of criteria to decide whether to give the vendor an extension of one year.