GAO denies protest of $4.6 billion DISA contract
October 2nd, 2012 | Defense Information Technology | Posted by Nicole Johnson
The Government Accountability Office on Monday denied a protest against Lockheed Martin’s $4.6 billion contract award to support the Pentagon’s global data network.
In its June protest to GAO, Science Applications International Corp. claimed that the Defense Information Systems Agency unreasonably evaluated Lockheed’s technical risk and costs, according to GAO. SAIC also said that DISA failed to meaningfully investigate whether Lockheed had unequal access to information pertaining to the contract, which would have been an organizational conflict of interest (OCI).
GAO determined that DISA’s evaluation of Lockheed’s proposal was “reasonable and consistent with [the] solicitation’s evaluation criteria,” Ralph White, GAO’s managing associate general counsel for procurement law, said in a statement. “GAO also concluded that the agency reasonably investigated Lockheed’s alleged OCI.”
Lawyers from both sides are working to release a public version of the decision.
“Lockheed Martin submitted an affordable and innovative solution, and we regard this as an opportunity to coordinate with DISA to improve the speed and efficiency of information exchange between our joint warfighters around the world as well as their commanders and allies,” Gerry Fasano, president of Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions- Defense, said in a statement. “We have remained transition-ready throughout the protest period and look forward to beginning work on this critical mission.”
Lockheed Martin Corp. beat out incumbent SAIC to provide daily operations and sustainment of the Defense Department’s global data network. The contract has a ceiling of $4.6 billion over seven years — three base years and two two-year option years.
Tags: DISA, GAO, Global Systems Management Operations, Lockheed Martin, SAIC
Army moves 500,000 email users to the cloud
August 20th, 2012 | Defense | Posted by Nicole Johnson
To date, the Army has migrated 500,000 email accounts to the cloud, according to a news release.
The Army expects to move a total of 1.6 million email users from disparate local servers to centralized servers operated by the Defense Information Systems Agency by March 2013. The Army projects the move, which began January 2011, will save $380 million through fiscal year 2017.
The migration hasn’t come without challenges, delays and much scrutiny. The Army was forced to suspend the migration in December after concerned lawmakers temporarily withheld funding for the program, pending a detailed review.
About 520,000 people across the Defense Department, including the Joint Staff, U.S. European Command and DISA, have migrated to the enterprise email service, according to DISA.
Tags: cloud computing, cloud email, DISA
DoD releases cloud computing strategy
July 12th, 2012 | Defense Information Technology | Posted by Nicole Johnson
The Defense Department will expand its use of cloud computing through a four-step plan, which includes incentivizing DoD components to use shared cloud services and training acquisition professionals to procure cloud technologies.
DoD’s Cloud Computing Strategy released Wednesday outlines a phased approach for adopting both commercial and government-provided cloud solutions. According to the strategy, DoD will:
- Foster adoption of departmentwide cloud services through an outreach campaign to increase the number of cloud consumers and providers.
- Optimize data center consolidation by eliminating duplicative software and providing information technology services, hosted in the data centers, in a standard way.
- Incorporate cloud hardware and software into select DoD data centers.
- Deliver cloud services via DoD components, vendors or other agencies.
DoD cloud services will include messaging and collaboration capabilities, such as instant message, chat, email, and web conferencing and integrated voice, video and data services over the Internet.
The Defense Information Systems Agency will manage and negotiate cloud services on DoD’s behalf, but DoD chief information officer Teri Takai will be the final authority and provide oversight for the use of enterprise cloud services, according to the strategy. The cloud strategy is a key part of DoD efforts to provide seamless access to its data anytime, anywhere on any device.
“Cloud computing will enable the Department to consolidate and share commodity IT functions resulting in a more efficient use of resources,” the strategy said. However, funding, data migration from legacy systems to the cloud and security are among the challenges facing DoD.
One concern is that moving DoD data into a vendor’s cloud environment that operates outside of DoD’s operational control can increase security risks.
Vendors will have to provide visibility of real-time use and consumption of data in their cloud environment that meets DoD standards. Cloud providers hosting DoD data off site will also have to integrate their continuous monitoring and response capabilities with U.S. Cyber Command’s systems for protecting DoD information.
DoD will not use commercial cloud services to provide mission critical data or services that if lost, compromised or interrupted could have severe or catastrophic effects on DoD operations.
Tags: cloud computing, cloud security, cloud service provider, cloud strategy, DISA
SAIC protests $4.6 billion DISA contract
June 25th, 2012 | Defense Information Technology | Posted by Nicole Johnson
Science Applications International Corp. is protesting a $4.6 billion award to Lockheed Martin to support the Defense Information Systems Network.
The protest was filed June 22 with the Government Accountability Office. GAO will issue a decision on the protest by Oct. 1.
“We are disappointed in the government’s decision to not award us the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Global Information Grid (GIG) Services Management (GSM) contract. We feel our solution is the best value for the customer and we are proud of our performance history on this contract,” SAIC spokeswoman Melissa Koskovich said in a statement.
Lockheed Martin Corp. beat out incumbent SAIC to provide daily operations and sustainment of the Defense Department’s global data network. The contract has a ceiling of $4.6 billion over seven years — three base years and two two-year option years.
SAIC’s current contract was awarded October 2001 and expires Sept. 30. The contract has one six-month option remaining through March 2013.
“We have a strong and agile team, and because of our high technical readiness levels, we feel we are the best choice to ensure secure global communication and information-sharing by providing provisioning, net operations and assurance, and network maintenance services on a worldwide basis, including support of the military’s global information grid. We look forward to working with this key defense customer to resolve this matter,” Koskovich said.
Tags: bid protests, DISA, GAO, Lockheed Martin, SAIC
DoD cancels plans to move DISA to U.S. Cyber Command
July 8th, 2011 | Uncategorized | Posted by Nicole Johnson
The Defense Information Systems Agency will not move to U.S. Cyber Command, following concerns of major policy, operational and practical challenges, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an undated memo.
After reviewing the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Gates said he recognizes that shifting DISA to U.S. Cyber Command is no longer “a viable approach.”
As part of Gates’ push to eliminate billions in spending, he directed Chief Information Officer Teri Takai to shutter the Pentagon’s Networks and Information Integration by Sept. 30.
The portion of NII responsible for major automated information system acquisition oversight and command and control will transfer to Office of the Under Secretary of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. The move will create a smaller but strengthened CIO office that has a strong relationship with DISA and Cyber Command, Gates said.
Tags: Defense Department, DISA, US Cyber Command