DISA awards NexGen contract

The Defense Information Systems Agency last week awarded its Next Generation Engineering (NexGen) contract to seven companies to provide global scientific, engineering, integration and technical services.

The seven-year contract, which was awarded April 22, has a total overall ceiling of $1 billion. Each contractor is guaranteed a minimum of $100,000 for the basic performance period, according to DISA.

Northrop Grumman Information Technology, Science Applications International Corp., and Systems Research and Applications Corp. are joined by four small businesses as NexGen contractors: Artel Inc., Femme Comp Inc., FGM Inc., and Pragmatics Inc.

DISA spokeswoman Betsy Flood said the NexGen contracts are a consolidation of expiring contracts that include the JIEO Systems Engineering contract, the Defense Information Infrastructure Integration Contract, the Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance to the Command Centers and Crisis Management Facilities, and Data Standards Management Support.

Flood said Nexgen is actually two separate sets of multiple-award contracts -- one for small business and one for large business -- each having its own statement of work, and the requirements for each will be competed only among the individual groups.

Contract work will include engineering services to support DISA and other Defense Department agencies worldwide.

Scott Gessay, president and chief executive officer of FGM, said the award "lays the foundation for a new partnership with DISA" and the company's goal is to provide technology services to DISA "that give our troops the battlefield advantage."

"The contracts were awarded without any subcontracting restrictions," Flood said. "The NexGen contractors are encouraged to continuously review the marketplace to team or subcontract with companies that provide new and innovative products and services."