The U.S. Army has announced it is officially merging the follow-on acquisitions to the Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) and Information Technology Enterprise Solutions 3-Services (ITES-3S) contracts into a single $50 billion, 10-year acquisition vehicle.
The decision to merge the two IT services contracts into one contract, known as the Marketplace for the Acquisition of Professional Services (MAPS), comes after the Army gathered public feedback on the proposed merger.
The Army previously intended to call the new contract the Army Contracting Command’s Enterprise for Sourcing Services (ACCESS).
“The creation of MAPS is a great example of the government seeing the potential to bring efficiencies together and communicating its ideas to our industry partners early,” Danielle Moyer, the executive director of the Army Contracting Command Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) said in an Aug. 12 press release.
“Over the last four months, we sought out and read hundreds of responses from industry, which confirmed our thoughts. Reducing duplication of effort, while saving the government and industry both time and money, made this decision a no-brainer,” Moyer added.
The Army formally announced the merger in a notice published to SAM.gov on Aug. 5, explaining that the government plans to host an industry day to discuss the new contract before the end of fiscal year 2024.
“We are currently in the planning stages, so more information will be forthcoming,” the notice says. “Please continue to monitor SAM.gov for additional information and upcoming events.”
MAPS will be a multiple-award, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity acquisition vehicle that the Army said combines the strengths of ITES-3S and RS3. It offers a more efficient way for the Army, Department of Defense, and Federal agencies to procure “knowledge-based professional services,” including IT and engineering services ranging from cybersecurity, program management, development, testing, and more.
“We gathered feedback from our government customers and vendors and are now creating MAPS to maintain flexibility and grow as fast as industry and technology will allow,” said Reg Shuford, project director for enterprise services at the Army’s Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) “This contract will be the next wave to decrease the flash to bang from requirements to delivery.”
Both the ITES-3S and RS3 contracts are set to expire in 2027, when MAPS will officially replace them.
