20 contracts you can't ignore

We rank the largest and most important contracts that will hit the market in the next 12 months. Is your bid-and-proposal team ready?

In our annual roundup of the 20 most important contracts that are about to hit the market, Washington Technology culled data from FedSources and Input. The contracts are ranked by the dollar size of their ceilings. Actual business that will flow through these contracts likely will be less.

The contracts this year weigh heavily toward IT support and professional services. Support for the military is the most common driver behind many of these contracts.

For more coverage of the critical trends driving the market in 2011, click here.

1. Strategic Services Sourcing 2nd Generation
Agency: Army Materiel Command
Value: $30 billion
RFP: November 2012
Award: December 2014
Solicitation No.: N/A
Purpose: This is a follow-on contract to the current S3 contract. The Army uses the contract for engineering services and logistics and business operations support for command and control systems. The contract is a multiple-award contract. The current contract has seven incumbents that have done more than $4.5 billion in task orders.

2. Enhanced Army Global Logistics Enterprise
Agency: Army Materiel Command
Value: $30 billion
RFP: February 2011
Award: January 2012
Solicitation No.: W52P1J10RXXXX
Purpose: The contract has four functional areas: supply, maintenance, transportation support, and plans and operations. The contract will primarily support logistics operations. It is replacing the Army’s Field and Installation Readiness Support Team contract and some other smaller vehicles. This will be a multiple-award contract.

3. Communication and Transmission Systems
Agency: Army
Value: $19.5 billion
RFP: May 2011
Award: February 2012
Solicitation No.: W91QUZ10CTSPWSQA
Purpose: This contract will be used to acquire a variety of communications services, including satellite, microwave, fiber optics, over-the horizon, radio and wireless. The contract also will be used for equipment, hardware and support services. The Army is looking for turnkey solutions on this contract as well. It is expected to be a multiple-award contract.

4. Defense Language Interpretation and Translation Enterprises
Agency: Army
Value: $15 billion
RFP: Expected by the end of calendar 2010.
Award: March 2011
Solicitation No.: W911W410R0011
Purpose: This contract will be used by the military and other U.S. agencies to acquire foreign language and regional expertise to help the government meet its missions. Translators and analysts will work on-site and remotely. Services will include translating and interpreting from English to other languages in addition to from other languages into English.

5. Federally Funded Research and Development Center Support
Agency: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Value: $14.4 billion
RFP: March 2011
Award: December 2011
Solicitation No.: NNN10AA01S
Purpose: The contractor will manage and operate the Jet Propulsion Lab, including maintaining the infrastructure needed by the lab to carry out its scientific and research mission. Missions include projects in Earth orbit and deep space, and they cover Earth science, planetary science, heliophysics and astrophysics.

6. Global Tactical Advanced Communications Systems and Support Services
Agency: Army
Value: $10 billion
RFP: March 2011
Award: June 2011
Solicitation No.: W15P7T11RC001
Purpose: The multiple-award contract will be used to buy hardware, systems and services for a wide range of tactical command and control systems, including logistics support, testing and engineering services.

7. Next Generation Enterprise Network
Agency: Navy
Value: $8.8 billion
RFP: Fiscal 2011
Award: To be determined
Solicitation No.: MKTSVY4623E
Purpose: NGEN will replace the Navy Marine Corps Intranet contract held by Hewlett-Packard. This time, the Navy is expected to divide the contract into five parts. The NGEN program also will cover the One-Net contract held by General Dynamics, the naval network outside the United States, and afloat networks. NGEN will cover desktop computers, local-area networks, enterprise networks and the Navy’s IT infrastructure used by 450,000 people.

8. Electronic Commodities Store IV
Agency: National Institutes of Health
Value: $6 billion
RFP: April 2011
Award: December 2011
Solicitation No.: N/A
Purpose: This longtime multiple-award contract has been used by many agencies looking for a vehicle to buy hardware and software. The contract carries commercial items such as desktop PCs, laptop PCs and handheld devices. It also has lots for telecommunications equipment, scientific research workstations, software and support services.

9. Design, Development, Demonstration and Integration
Agency: Army Space and Missile Defense Command
Value: $5 billion
RFP: November 2010
Award: November 2011
Solicitation No: W9113MD3ISS10
Purpose: The contract will support development of requirements for missile defense, space and other warfighter solutions. Work will include platform and sensor technologies, communications networks, missiles, rockets and re-entry vehicles, and space technologies.

10. Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-3H
Agency: Army
Value: $5 billion
RFP: June 2011
Award: January 2012
Solicitation No.: W91QUZ10ITES3H
Purpose: This contract is used to acquire hardware such as Unix servers, Windows servers, workstations, desktop PCs, laptop PCs and storage systems. The Army also will use this contract to buy networking equipment, printers, video equipment and uninterruptible power supplies. This is a follow-on contract held by Apptis Inc., CDW Government, Dell Federal systems, IBM Corp., World Wide Technology and GTSI Corp.

11. Medicare Prescription Drug Integrity
Agency: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Value: $4 billion
RFP: March 2011
Award: September 2011
Solicitation No.: N/A
Purpose: CMS will use this multiple-award contract to help implement Part D prescription drug benefit regulations. However, the regulations are not yet finalized. Services will include reviewing compliance plans, investigations and audits and developing data systems to track fraud and abuse. There are eight incumbents, including Hewlett Packard, Maximus, Perot Systems and Science Applications International Corp.

12. Automated Desktop Extended Processing Technology III
Agency: U.S. Postal Service
Value: $2 billion
RFP: January 2011
Award: April 2011
Solicitation No.: N/A
Purpose: This contract will supply desktop PCs, mobile devices, peripherals and support services to the U.S. Postal Service. Services will include repair and maintenance. Services and products will be delivered across the country. Hewlett-Packard is the incumbent contractor.

13. Economic Growth for Poverty Reduction
Agency: U.S. Agency for International Development
Value: $2 billion
RFP: November 2010
Award: March 2011
Solicitation No.: AIDEGATEG4PR
Purpose: The contractors on this multiple-award procurement will work on a variety of stability fronts, including trade and investment, financial sector, economic opportunities, and private-sector competitiveness. The services and projects are geared toward alleviating poverty in developing countries by helping to build the governing structures needed for economic growth and stability. USAID has a variety of contractors working on these types of programs.

14. NASA Enterprise Data Center Consolidation
Agency: NASA
Value: $1.5 billion
RFP: March 2011
Award: December 2011
Solicitation No.: NNK09274726R
Purpose: NASA has 78 data centers with 15,000 servers. This contract will be used to rationalize management of the data centers, including where they are housed, hardware issues, hosting and what kind of infrastructure to put in place. The contract will be used to create a more uniform management and implementation plan across NASA. The agency has multiple contractors providing these services now, and it is expected that this will be a multiple-award, task-order contract.

15. Training and Management Assistance Support
Agency: Office of Personnel Management
Value: $1.45 billion
RFP: June 2011
Award: February 2012
Solicitation No.: N/A
Purpose: This will be a five-year contract to support training, including the development of custom training and learning systems. Other services include developing training and products and services such as technology-based training products, instructor-led materials and knowledge management systems. There also will be solutions for the analysis and design of programs and other services such as human resources, consulting and business process engineering.

16. Global Information Grid Services Management — Engineering, Transition and Implementation
Agency: Defense Information Systems Agency
Value: $1.4 billion
RFP: January 2011
Award: September 2011
Solicitation No.: HC102810R2001
Purpose: The contract supports the Global Information Grid, including systems engineering and integration, architecture, telecommunication standards development, telecommunication network security and information systems engineering, IT systems, and other services. The contract is expected to be awarded to several small businesses. The current contract-holders are Science Applications International Corp. and SETA Corp.

17. Integrated Mission Planning, Training and Execution
Agency: NASA
Value: $980 million
RFP: November 2010
Award: March 2011
Solicitation No.: NNJ10ZHD002L
Purpose: Lockheed Martin Corp. is the incumbent on this contract, which supplies NASA with technical support for mission planning. Work is done at the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston. Details on the acquisition strategy have not been released yet.

18. Expeditionary C4I Systems and Technical Support Services
Agency: Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
Value: $900 million
RFP: November 2010
Award: July 2011
Solicitation No.: N6523609R0202
Purpose: Services under this contract include systems engineering, test and evaluation, maintenance and site support, configuration management, logistics and training, and program management. The contract will need a top-secret clearance. This is a new contract, so there is no incumbent contractor.

19. Application Support Centers
Agency: Homeland Security Department
Value: $750 million
RFP: February 2011
Award: September 2011
Solicitation No.: N/A
Purpose: DHS’ Citizenship and Immigration Service continues to need support for its biometrics programs. Support includes biometrics capture, testing, program management and scheduling support. Northrop Grumman Corp. is the incumbent on the contract. The bureau is in the early stages of developing the recompete of this contract.

20. Advisory and Assistance Services for Global Engineering Integration and Technical Assistance 11
Agency: Air Force
Value: $650 million
RFP: March 2011
Award: January 2012
Solicitation No.: FA890311R8002
Purpose: This contract is used to support a variety of Air Force agencies with management and professional services, studies, analysis and evaluation services, and engineering and technical services. There are several incumbents on this long-running program, including Booz Allen Hamilton. Booz Allen captured more than half of the task orders issued under the program.