NIH previews $40B CIO-SP4 vehicle
By
Ross Wilkers
The National Institutes of Health gives industry an initial glimpse at CIO-SP4: the next and much larger iteration of its multi-billion IT product and services contract vehicle.
The National Institutes of Health has given industry an initial preview of what the next iteration of its multi-billion IT product and services contract vehicle will look like.
NIH’s IT Acquisition and Assessment Center on March 27 released the draft solicitation for its Chief Information Officer Solutions and Partners 4 contract, or CIO-SP4, with a due date of May 15 for responses. A final request for proposals should follow in the fourth quarter of this calendar year with all bids due in the second quarter of 2021, NITAAC said in an announcement.
CIO-SP4 will have a potential 15-year period of performance with a $40 billion ceiling, double that of the current CIO-SP3, over a five-year base period and a five-year option. Any task orders awarded on the last day of that option can continue for five more years.
The new vehicle will be awarded in a consolidated format with large and small businesses included on the single vehicle. This is a departure from the current iteration that has one unrestricted track and a second for small businesses only.
NITAAC expects to make 75-to-125 unrestricted awards with 200-to-300 reserved for small businesses, the latter of which 25-to-75 will go to 8(a) firms.
CIO-SP vehicles cover IT needs in health and biomedical efforts, but can also extend to other general requirements.
In the meantime, NITAAC has moved to complete the on-ramp for CIO-SP3’s small business track and is currently finalizing awards for the final portion of that process.