Not the time to go home

It is hard sometimes not to get distracted by the numbers when you look at thelist of contracts that market research firm Input Inc. compiled for our coverstory.I've never been entirely comfortable with the phrasebillions of dollars. Even hundreds of millions makes mesqueamish.But the government game has evolved to the pointthat if you aren't chasing the billions, you might as welltake your ball and go home.Our cover story highlights some of the most importantgovernment contracts that will be awarded in thenext 18 months. Nearly all of themare follow-ups to existing contracts.Associate Editor David Hublerfocused on three contract opportunitiesin particular: the Air Force'sNetwork Centric Solutions(NetCents) 2, the Navy Marine CorpsIntranet Next Generation EnterpriseNetwork and the Homeland SecurityDepartment's Information Technology Managed Services (ITMS).NetCents is a multiple-award contract that in its newest version will be dividedinto three parts: products, small-business services, and full-and-open services.The follow-on contracts for NMCI and ITMS will likely be single awards,as their predecessors were.Those contracts reveal how and what the government is buying.NetCents symbolizes the continued role of task-order contracts, while ITMS isimportant because it shows that the government needs help modernizing itsinfrastructure.NMCI is about infrastructure, too, but it is also a story of how EDS Corp.turned around a troubled contract. The competition's attempts to unseat EDSwill be among the more interesting stories of 2008 and 2009.Budgets are tight and new initiatives few, so thecompetition for work will only intensify.Now is the time to step up and play ball.