Marines terminate Accenture contract

The Marine Corps has terminated a six-month, $4.5 million contract awarded to Accenture last summer to design and implement its new global supply chain and maintenance system.

The Marines canceled Accenture’s contract on the Global Combat Support System-Marine Corps because the company did not meet the contract’s requirements, terms and conditions, said Capt. Jeff Landis, a spokesman at the Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico, Va. He confirmed the contract termination today and read parts of the termination-for-cause letter.

Accenture failed to deliver substantial documentation in support of the system’s detailed design review. The company also did not comply with cost, schedule and performance baselines and risk assessments for the next phase of the program, Landis said.

Accenture did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

The Marines divided the program into two phases. Phase One was a $4.5 million contract to Accenture for system planning, analysis and conceptual design. Phase Two was a $36.8 million contract that the Marines could have exercised for system design, tests and construction.

The Marines sent the termination letter Jan. 18 after it issued a stop-work order Dec. 22. They awarded the systems integration contract to Accenture in July after selecting Oracle’s E-Business Suite product for the logistics modernization program.

Landis said the Marines plan to recompete the contract, but he did not provide a date for the release of the new solicitation. He said they will meet extensively with companies to discuss the contract’s future.

“We want to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again,” Landis said.