DHS requests proposals for large IT services contract

Homeland Security officials late last week issued a request for proposals for one of two contracts designed to consolidate the bulk of the department's $6 billion in annual information technology purchases.

Proposals for the support services contract, dubbed EAGLE, are due by the end of October, according to the Sept. 29 solicitation. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity services contract, designed to put Homeland Security's IT service purchases under one roof, will be split into five categories with task orders awarded under each, the announcement stated.

The five areas will be: infrastructure engineering design, development, implementation and integration; operations and maintenance; independent test, validation, verification and evaluation; software development; and management support services. The categories are "designed to offer a broad range of services, solutions and contract types to fulfill the majority of [agency] and departmental IT services needs," the solicitation stated.

EAGLE has a base period of five years with two one-year option periods. A portion of the contract will be set aside for small businesses. There is no dollar value attached to the contract, but DHS officials noted, "IT support services represent a significant portion of the Homeland Security Department's IT budget."

A second departmentwide contract vehicle called First Source will facilitate IT commodities buys. That contract will be a small business set-aside. Department officials published a draft solicitation on Sept. 9 and plan to issue a final version later this month.

DHS will hold two hour-long sessions in Washington on Oct. 18 to review EAGLE contract requirements. The sessions are not mandatory and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. To register, visit http://www.affirm.org.