DISA boosts Encore value again

The Defense Information Systems Agency said it has raised the ceiling of its Encore information technology services contract from $2.5 billion to $3.1 billion to ensure the agency has enough funding for the original vehicle until it awards Encore II on or before June 30, 2007.

This is the second large increase in the past year in the value of the original Encore contract, which DISA submitted in March 2002. In August 2005, DISA boosted the contract’s value to $2.5 billion from $2 billion after a surge of task orders outpaced business conducted in the first two years of the contract.

To date, DISA’s Defense IT Contracting Organization has awarded 3,015 task orders with a total value of nearly $1.5 billion through the Encore contract. In August 2005, the organization’s Encore task order award database showed the agency had awarded 1,839 task orders with a total value of $964 million spread among nine Encore contract holders: Analytical Services, Computer Sciences Corp., EDS, Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Northrop Grumman IT, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Pragmatics, TranTech and Unisys.

DISA has put a value of $12.5 billion on the Encore II contract. The high price tag and success of the original procurement has attracted 70 to 75 bidders, said an executive at one company vying for the contract who declined to be identified for competition reasons.

The executive estimated that Encore II has attracted 50 small-business bidders and 25 large businesses, which he said included every large IT company and systems integrator doing business with the federal government.