The U.S. Army has released details on its plans for a significantly larger – up to $10 billion from the previous figure of about $1 billion – multiple-award software development support services contract competition, according to an updated request for information (RFI) issued on Aug. 16.
Despite the significant changes in numbers, the scope of the notice remains largely unchanged. The Army plans to award a new Multiple Award Indefinite Quanty Indefinite (IDIQ) Delivery Contract to multiple contractors, creating a flexible vehicle for quickly issuing task orders for Modern Software Development needs.
The initial RFI released in May estimated a ceiling of over $1 billion for the New Modern Software Development IDIQ vehicle over 10 years. The updated announcement reveals the ceiling has been raised to $10 billion.
The contract aims to facilitate a range of activities related to “modern software enablement,” the RFI says. This includes developing custom software solutions, customizing, integrating, or modifying existing software, enabling software as a service, and modernizing software security and hosting.
Customization continues to be a key focus, with the Army emphasizing development practices such as DevSecOps, agile, lean, and continuous integration/continuous delivery.
The Army is also expanding the pool of potential awardees to a maximum of 20, up from the original limit of 10. Of these, up to five awards will be reserved for small businesses.
The RFI describes a “three-phase advisory downselect process” for evaluating proposals and updating bidders on their chances of advancement. However, the department assures that companies can continue regardless of their evaluation reports.
The Army also outlines an on-ramp process to include additional firms, creating a category called “Awardable but Not Selected” for those who nearly made the initial cut and will be prioritized in future selections. Off-ramps are also planned; contractors must bid on at least 25 percent of task orders and win 25 percent of those to avoid probation. Firms failing to meet these criteria may be off-ramped if they do not improve within 180 days of notice.
Comments on the draft notice are due by 10 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 6.
