Official: Sole-source contract to continue NMCI

The Navy intends to enter into a sole-source contract with EDS to have the company continue providing information technology services for the Navy Marine Corps Intranet after the contract for the shore-based network expires Sept. 30, 2010.

The contract is needed to provide services during the period after the NMCI contract expires and before contracts for the Next Generation Enterprise Network are awarded, said John Gauss, acquisition head at the NGEN System Program Office, at an industry meeting today.

Navy officials said they believe the transition could take as long as 28 months, and a gap in services would occur without the sole-source contract because EDS owns the NMCI infrastructure.

“The operating processes [and] procedures are either owned or controlled by the current provider,” Gauss said.

Navy officials need to know what the infrastructure encompasses and how much of it can be used for NGEN, Gauss said.

“In replacing the NMCI contract, there will need to be contracts that require use of that infrastructure and access to that technical data,” Gauss said. “We don’t believe there is a solution out there that doesn’t require the use of some, if not all, of that infrastructure.”

The sole-source arrangement with EDS will be a new contract, not an extension of the original NMCI award, Gauss said. Under the new contract, EDS will continue NMCI services, support the transition to NGEN, and give the Navy licenses for the network’s operations and infrastructure, Gauss said.

NMCI has more than 700,000 users in 3,000 locations. Under the NGEN contract, Navy officials plan to take back control of much of the network from EDS, said Capt. Timothy Holland, the Navy’s NGEN program manager.