GSA awards Alliant contract

After years of discussion and development, the General Services Administration has awarded the first of two information technology services contracts under its Alliant program.On July 31, GSA awarded Alliant to 29 of the 66 companies that submitted bids. The contract has a ceiling of $50 billion and could span as long as 10 years. A companion small-business contract is yet to be awarded. GSA officials said they will award the small-business contract by the end of the year.Alliant covers a wide array of IT services, including software engineering and systems integration. As time goes on and similar contracts expire, GSA envisions Alliant becoming a primary vehicle for agencies to purchase services.Companies on the Alliant contract must spend at least half of their subcontracting dollars with small businesses, and the contract includes specific thresholds for various set-aside categories, including 3 percent for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans.Unlike some contracts, Alliant has off-ramp and on-ramp provisions so that companies can be removed or added to it over the years."This would allow us to reopen the solicitation and make new awards somewhere along the line," said Jim Ghiloni, GSA's Alliant program manager. "That allows us ? should we choose, should the market change in some significant ways ? to refresh the providers we make available through Alliant."Companies on the contract should see it as a key win, said Shiv Krishnan, president and chief executive officer of Indus Corp. in Vienna, Va., one of the winners. As a mid-size company, Indus is pinched between small businesses, which can take advantage of set-aside programs, and large companies, which can pour vast amounts of money and time into competitions, he said.The others on the Alliant contract "are very, very large companies, and that makes it significant that Indus is in great company," he said. "As we emerge and evolve into a much stronger mature player, GSA Alliant will be a critical component of our overall strategy."