The Navy is preparing to compete the next phase of the Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN) program and is seeking information from information technology vendors on how to best to buy network services for the Navy Marine Corps Intranet.
A request for information (RFI) released Sept. 17 on the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command’s e-commerce website consists of a survey meant to help the service identify IT companies, available services and service delivery methodologies, a Navy press release said. Responses are due Oct. 19.
“We are using the insight from all responses to further solidify the requirements and to ensure that we release a quality RFP [request for proposals] that industry will be able to bid on and execute in order to provide optimized enterprise services to our sailors and Marines,” Navy Capt. Michael Abreu, naval enterprise networks program manager, stated in the release.
The Navy plans to release a second RFI as early as November. The two solicitations and other engagements such as industry days will inform the acquisition strategy of the NGEN contract recompete, the news release stated.
More than 700,000 military, civilian and contractor employees at the Department of the Navy rely on the IT services provided by the Navy Marine Corps Intranet, the largest government-owned intranet. The NGEN construct changes the legacy contracting mechanism by allowing the Navy to “own” the NMCI network, which is then operated by a contractor. This allows the service to compete selected hardware, software and services when needed to decrease cost or increase capability.
Hewlett Packard [HPQ], the legacy NMCI vendor, won the first NGEN contract in June 2013. The one-year base award included four one-year options that bring the total value up to $3.45 billion.
In April, Victor Gavin, the Navy’s program executive officer for enterprise information systems, indicated that the service would be looking for alternative acquisition strategies for the second NGEN contract (Defense Daily, April 9).
“I believe the technology has changed so much, I believe that the business model and the delivery model of that technology has changed so much that we need to rethink how we…acquire this new capability,” he said then.
