The Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-2 Services contract awards won't be announced until mid-October.
Army officials announced April 15 that they postponed the award of the multibillion-dollar Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-2 Services (ITES-2S) contract until the middle of October, a two-month delay.
"We have a lot of vendors interested in ITES-2S and we want to ensure adequate time for evaluation," said Kevin Carroll, program executive officer at the Army's Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems. "Frankly, we have room to play with the ITES 1 vehicle still being viable."
Officials expect to release a draft request for proposals later this month, Carroll said.
Army officials previously planned to award the $20 billion contract this summer. They will award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity deals to four large and four small businesses. They chose 17 companies last month to compete for the awards.
Army officials need a new contract for enterprise IT services because they expect to exceed the $500 million ceiling for the services portion of the ITES contracts awarded in 2003, which also included a $500 million portion for hardware. Officials say the program helps them manage IT assets, conduct performance-based contracting and support soldiers.