Army to merge, streamline multibillion-dollar IT contracts
The combined S32G and R2-4G contract vehicles will be valued at $36 billion and will be opened up to competition.
As part of its effort to cut costs, the Army is planning to combine two multibillion dollar contracts used mainly for IT services and open the new contract up to competition among vendors.
The service reportedly will merge the $30 billion Strategic Services Sourcing 2nd Generation (S32G) with the $16 billion Rapid Response 4th Generation (R2-4G), according to an announcement. The total value of the combined contracts is expected to be less than the sum of the two parts, however, coming in at $36 billion.
S32G currently provides engineering, logistics and operations support for C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), according to a report in the Washington Post. R2-4G provides IT systems support and equipment across the federal government.
Vendors interested in bidding on the combined, as-yet unnamed, contract must be sure they are properly registered in the federal government’s System for Award Management (SAM), a site that contractors have had some problems with. According to the Georgia Tech Procurement Technical Assistance Center, an estimated high percentage of the 600,000 companies registered in SAM have errors in their filings, ranging from misspellings to incomplete entries to incorrect procurement codes, which can result in the companies being denied contracts.
Businesses large and small can get help with the registration process from the US Federal Contractor Registration service on the SAM website.