Army contract builds on transformation

The Army recently awarded an enterprise systems management contract to SRA International Inc. for ongoing information technology transformation work at the Military District of Washington (MDW).

The work is part of an Army-wide program aimed at reducing the cost of maintaining systems while improving access to information and applications.

The Army Communications Electronics Command's Acquisition Center in Washington, D.C., awarded the task to SRA in mid-July and work has already begun, said Catherine Doolos, acting program manager for enterprise infostructure in the Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO-EIS).

"Enterprise systems management is an integral component of the Army's overall [Army Enterprise Infostructure Transformation or AEIT] program with objectives to reduce the costs of maintaining information systems Army-wide, and integrating knowledge management concepts and best practices into Army processes," Doolos said.

The contract, which is valued at $1.4 million for six months, is being carried out at the Army's Network Operations Center at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., and within MDW, which is serving as an overall "proof of concept" for AEIT, she said.

SRA officials were unavailable for comment.

Looking ahead at the AEIT program, Army officials plan to release this fall a request for proposals for the $500 million IT Enterprise Solutions (ITES) contract, which is designed to "meet the evolving requirements for commercial IT products and services to support the Army's worldwide mission," said Kevin Carroll, the program executive officer for the Army's EIS, earlier this year at Army IT Day.

ITES, an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, will have up to three contractors in each of three modules: enterprise total solutions, which encompasses the full suite of technology; commodity servers; and corporate services. Contractors can bid on one or multiple modules, Carroll said.

Like the latest enterprise systems management award to SRA, the ITES program will also build on concepts being tested in the ongoing transformation work being done at MDW, Carroll said.