With the first two sets of task orders out on Phase I and the remainder moving forward, the Department of Homeland Security is looking ahead to Phase II of the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, which will cover identity, credentials and access management (ICAM).

GSA and FEDSIM — the arm of the General Services Administration working on the CDM procurement vehicle — are now looking for agencies that want to be the test cases for task orders on Phase II.

More: CDM Phase II centers on monitoring user privileges, activities

The program office is expecting to release modifications to the blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) in the next 30 days, according to John Simms, CDM program manager at DHS. Once those BPAs are modified, agencies will be able to start buying ICAM services through the CDM vehicle.

"We're heavily into Phase I and we are getting ready to modify the BPAs for Phase II," Simms said during a panel at the Federal IT Acquisition Summit on June 2, hosted by 1105 Media. "We're in the process of contacting agencies to begin the Phase II part of this … We're actively looking for agencies to step forward to sign up for a mix of delivery orders and task orders to support Phase II."

More: $39M CDM contract awarded for six major agencies

Simms also mentioned the bulk of the remaining awards on Phase I — groups C though E — are expected within the next 90 days.

Once agencies have the base scanning and monitoring capabilities of Phase I, incorporating strong authentication controls should be easier.

"The BPA has been structured so that each of the phases is an add-on to the prior phase," said Jim Piche, FEDSIM group manager for CDM. "Phase II, which is who's on the network — the roles, who has account authorizations, what behaviors do they have — that is all being ordered in Phase II."

More: CDM rollout to accelerate through 2015

The final group — Group F, made up of 41 small and micro agencies — will be awarding the first two phases together in a shared services environment. The program offices are currently weighing the requirements for all of Group F to ensure everyone is covered; that solicitation is expected before the end of the year.

About Aaron Boyd

Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.

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