Justice kicks off planning phase of $1.5B contract

Justice Department begins planning phase for the re-compete of the $1.5 billion Information Technology Support Services contract.

The Justice Department has begun the planning process to re-compete its Information Technology Support Services contract.

This will be the fourth iteration of the contract, which market research firm Input estimates will have a value of $1.5 billion.

In a request for information, DOJ said as many as 15 companies could win spots on the contract. The department will use the RFI to determine the mix of large and small businesses to be placed on the contract.

The winning contractors would compete for task orders to support Justice Department offices and bureaus. “Competition at the task-order level has proven cost-effective, and has yielded significant savings,” the RFI states.

The department said that most DOJ offices have a small staff of computer specialists, systems and programmers to provide IT support. The staffs often are too small to meet demand, and also can lack the expertise to handle all the equipment, operating systems and applications that Justice uses.

A request for proposals could be released in March with awards being made in September, according to Input.

About $440 million in task orders have been awarded so far under the current ITSS contract, which was awarded to 12 companies in 2004. It has a $1 billion ceiling and runs for seven years if all options are exercised, according to Input.

Incumbents on the contract include Keane Inc., which captured about $152 million in business under the contract, the most of any of the 12 contractors, according to Input.