14 contractors make VA's $12B T4 contract winners list

Fourteen contractors will compete for task orders worth a total of up to $12 billion under the Veterans Affairs Department's Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology acquisition program, known as T4.

The total T4 program will consist of 15 prime contracts over five years, including seven awards for service-disabled veteran small businesses and veteran-owned small businesses, officials said in a news release on July 1. The 15^th contract currently is being held until resolution of a protest filed with the Government Accountability Office.

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“T4 is a major tool in the transformation of VA into a 21st Century organization,” VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said in a statement at the time. “These contracts will enable VA to acquire services for information technology programs that will help ensure timely delivery of health care and benefits to our Veterans.”

The contract awardees were:

• Booz Allen Hamilton, Red Bank, N.J.
• CACI-ISS, Inc., Chantilly, Va.
• Harris Corporation, Melbourne, Fla.
• Systems Research and Applications Corporation, Fairfax, Va.
• Creative Computing Solutions, Inc. (CCSi), Rockville, Md.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services, LLC, Herndon, Va.
• ASM Research Inc., Fairfax, Va.
• Systems Made Simple, Syracuse, N.Y.
• Firstview Federal TS, Rockville, Md.
• Information Innovators, Springfield, Va.
• 7 Delta, Fulton, Md.
• By Light, Arlington, Va.
• Technatomy, Fairfax, VA.
• Adams Communications & Engineering Technology, Waldorf, Md.

All the selected companies will compete for task orders to integrate VA systems, network and software to modernize the VA’s information technology infrastructure. The services and products may span the life-cycle of a computer system, and include program planning and management, systems and software engineering, cybersecurity, operation and maintenance, and support to facilities.

The contractors also are to support the VA’s goal of providing seamless access to benefits and health information systems. This includes support for development of a common joint platform for digital medical profiles with the Defense Department over the next six to 10 years. Other VA goals include reducing the backlog of benefits claims and fulfilling the Veterans Relationship Management and the Veterans Benefits Management System initiatives.

The VA, in a fact sheet dated July 1, said T4 is a tool for streamlining acquisitions. It will enable VA “to meet those goals by closing gaps in acquiring services that will transform programs. By making the procurement of critically needed services easier and more rapid. T4 will minimize the potential for gaps in services that can occur using traditional acquisition processes,” the fact sheet said.

Overall, the T4 program is expected to fulfill multiple IT management goals. “The T4 program will be a single focal point for managing the multiple contracts; give VA access to the best industry capabilities without the traditional long acquisition lead time; and help the department meet its Veteran small-business goals,” the department said in the news release.

Before awarding the contract, the VA performed market research from December 2009 through April 2010, held an industry day in April 2010 with 700 attendees, and met one-on-one with vendors in more than 200 sessions in April 2010. Officials said the VA responded to more than 1,000 vendor questions submitted about the contracts.

VA officials also said the T4 contract aligns with acquisition reform strategic planning initiatives. “It provides a contract vehicle that will allow the Office of Information Technology to benefit from a program that can rapidly respond to requirement needs and avoid service gaps,” the VA said in the fact sheet. “T4 will provide a savings to the government, as well as to the taxpayer, as the acquisition process is streamlined, reduces contract administration, and provides a competitive post award environment.”