The National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) announced this week that it is once again extending its Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO-SP3) contract through April 29, 2025, as the agency works out bid protests for its CIO-SP4 successor.
In a July 15 update, NITAAC said the extension – which is nearly three years past its original expected end date – is to ensure there is no break in services during the award of CIO-SP4.
“More importantly, this ensures CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business are available for use during the busy end of year buying season,” the post says. “From laptops to desktops to everything IT, NITAAC will continue to be your one-stop shop for all your IT acquisition needs.”
CIO-SP4 is designed to deliver IT solutions and services in an infinite-delivery and infinite-quality contract, with a ceiling of $50 billion and a five-year option. CIO-SP4 will replace the CIO-SP3 contract, which NITAAC had initially extended through October 2023.
However, it is unclear when NITAAC will resolve bid protests over CIO-SP4. In July 2023, NITAAC announced it planned to take corrective action and reevaluate proposals under its CIO-SP4 contract after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) upheld 98 protests to the IT services contract.
In February, NITAAC said additional protests were filed at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) against the CIO-SP4 procurement – which “have no set timeline for a decision.”
Therefore, in April, NITAAC announced it would extend CIO-SP3 through Oct. 29, 2024. However, as bid protests remain unresolved, NITAAC made the decision this week to further extend CIO-SP3 until April 2025.
“Rest assured, NITAAC is steadfastly working to bring CIO-SP4 to market,” NITAAC said last summer.
