GSA entices DISA as EIS partner

The General Services Administration wants the Defense Information Systems Agency as a partner for its Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions telecommunications contract vehicle.

The 15-year, $50 billion contract is part of GSA's broader Network Services 2020 strategy, and GSA has added a new clause to EIS language that aims to entice the Defense Department, which was not part of the predecessor Networx contract vehicle. The new clause is in the EIS contract's geographic coverage section and better aligns the contract with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation System.

"We've been working with the technical requirements and management operations requirements with DISA folks out of Scott Air Force Base [Illinois] for the last year and a half, as well as other agencies," said Fred Haines, EIS program manager, according to an article in FCW. "Putting DFAR clauses into EIS helps DoD."

Meanwhile, DISA itself is soon to open bidding on its omnibus Systems Engineering Technology and Innovation (SETI) contract vehicle, and also Encore III, a follow-on to the $12 billion-ceiling, DISA-led IT services contract utilized by multiple government agencies.

"We have what I would call an omnibus engineering contract we're in the process of finalizing right now, all the requirements, called SETI," Alfred Rivera, director of DISA's development and business center, said at a recent industry event. "We're looking across the enterprise and saying instead of having all these different engineering contracts and – I hate to say stove-piped, but identified by program office or business line – and have an enterprise engineering vehicle that all of our program offices and business lines can go to and acquire engineering support as necessary."

DISA hosted an industry day for SETI on June 1, where agency leadership outlined the 20 performance task areas in the vehicle's scope of requirements, but the final details are still being hashed out, including an exact date for a request for proposals.

"The acquisition strategy for [SETI] has not been finalized. DISA recently hosted an industry day to obtain inputs from industry and mission partners to refine and finalize our approach," a DISA spokesperson said. "When we complete the market research and defining the acquisition strategy we will share the information along with a planned schedule."