Encore II RFP due soon

“Encore II Information Technology Solutions”

The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to release next week the request for proposals for Encore II, a multibillion-dollar, broad-scale information technology solutions contract.

DISA plans to issue the Encore II RFP on or about Nov. 28, according to a notice Nov. 22 on the Federal Business Opportunities’ Web site. The agency said it hopes to award the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts in May 2006.

DISA will award more than nine contracts under Encore II, said DISA director Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Croom, who spoke last week at the luncheon briefing of the Washington, D.C., chapter of AFCEA International. The contracts cover five years with five option years, and three contracts will go to small businesses, including one for a woman-owned business, one for a veteran-owned business and one for a HUBZone small business, according to the RFP.

DISA did not include the financial ceiling for Encore II in the notice, but dollar figures range from $1.5 billion to $12 billion. DISA spokesman Mike Thiem said the RFP will include the ceiling for Encore II.

Encore II provides a contract vehicle for network-centric IT products and services related to command and control, intelligence and mission support, and the Global Information Grid, the military’s name for its voice, video and data networks. The contract will primarily support the Defense Department and the military’s major commands, but the services and federal agencies can also use it.

DISA raised the ceiling in August on Encore I from $2 billion to $2.5 billion after a surge of orders. The agency expects the contract’s nine vendors -- six large businesses and three small businesses -- to vie for about $1 billion in business between August 2005 and May 2006.