DISA delays $11.7B IT 'Enclave' contract

The Defense Information Systems Agency is taking more time to get its mega IT services contract ready for industry to bid on.

In a Thursday Beta.Sam.Gov notice, DISA said it delayed the release date from late September to the November-December timeframe for the potential $11.7 billion Defense Enclave Services contract.

DES is intended as the agency’s mechanism to consolidate many IT support contracts into a single vehicle that will have one winner -- just like the Pentagon’s other two commercial cloud buys still held up by protest situations.

The new contract is part of DISA’s effort to bring all defense agencies outside the service branches into a single network operated by DISA.

In total, 22 so-called “Fourth Estate” agencies will move to DodNET and an initial group is already migrating there. A majority of agencies will shift to that network through DES.

DES also has several small business requirements that prospective bidders must take into account in their proposals.

This article first appeared on Washington Technology, a Defense Systems partner site.