Army readies new ITES hardware contract

The Army expects to break through the ceiling on the hardware portion of the $1 billion Information Technology Enterprise Solutions (ITES) contract and is preparing a new procurement called ITES-2H.

The service plans to start the new procurement next spring, said Kevin Carroll, program executive officer in the service’s Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO-EIS). He spoke today at a luncheon sponsored by the Northern Virginia Chapter of AFCEA International.

Carroll said the Army did not intend to exceed the $500 million limit on the hardware portion of ITES, but a recent slew of orders prompted it to create another procurement vehicle.

PEO-EIS awarded the ITES hardware and services contracts in 2003, with a $500 million ceiling for each category.

The organization announced in mid-2004 that the Army would hit the $500 million ceiling on the services portion and quickly created a new procurement called ITES-2S. However, PEO-EIS officials said at the time that they did not expect to exceed the limit on ITES’ hardware segment.

The Army issued the solicitation for ITES-2S in September and plans to award the contracts in mid-February 2006, Carroll said. The service recently narrowed down the list of potential winners, according to an industry official familiar with the procurement. However, the official did not know which companies had made the cut.