This is not the official USAF NETCENTS site. NETCENTSII.com is an industry site providing information on the NETCENTS program and networking opportunities to industry.
The purpose of Air Force Network-Centric Solutions 2 (NETCENTS 2) is to provide Air Force, Department of Defense (DoD), and other Federal Agencies with a primary source of networking equipment/product supply and a means of system engineering, installation, integration, operations, and maintenance for a family of DoD adopted commercially standardized networking solutions that are interoperable with Air Force, Joint, and DoD Standardized Networking Technical Architectures.
NETCENTS-2
The U.S. Air Force's Network Centric Solutions 2 (NETCENTSII) contract consists of a collection of acquisitions that will replace the current NETCENTS contract vehicle with seven separate indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts. The total value of NETCENTSII is $24+ billion over a seven-year period. NETCENTSII is Program Managed by the AFPEO Services.
Washington Post Article Doesn't Offer Much New
6 May 2012
The Washington Post article on Sunday added nothing of substance to the discussion of the NC-2 Products contract award fiasco. They enclosed a nonsensical graphic for the sake of having a graphic, I guess. The author, Brendan McGarry, appears to know so little about NETCENTS or the NETCENTSII acquisition that he introduces LCMO into the article even though they had no part in this bid.
Why not provide something not previously reported like: "What happens next?", "How will this impact all the remaining NC-2 contracts in Source Selection?", and "Should we expect more program delays?"
Link to Article
GAO dismisses Thirteen Protests
3 May 2012
The GAO Protest Docket website confirms the dismissal of thirteen protests to the April 16th Awards of the NETCENTSII NetCentric Products contract. It appears that WWT and Microtech withdrew their protests.
Scathing Washington Technology Questions: Air Force "Gutless or Incompetent?"
3 May 2012
Washington Technology Daily blogger, Nick Wakeman, asks today, "Should the Air Force fire whoever was in charge of making the bid decisions or ran the evaluation team? Shouldn't someone be held accountable for fouling up a $6.9 billion contract?"
"In my mind there are two possible scenarios that led to the Air Force's decision, both of which make the service look bad.
Scenario 1: The Air Force is gutless and caved to the pressure of having to defend its award decision when 11 companies filed bid protests.
Scenario 2: The Air Force is incompetent because its award decision couldn't survive the scrutiny of 11 bid protests.
So now the Air Force is reopening discussions with the bidders and allowing them to submit another round of final proposal revisions. But doesn't that give the protestors an advantage over the winners because they know why they lost and why the winners won? "
"This is a $6.9 billion contract that has had some delays already and is part of a $22 billion program for goods and services. It's the Air Force's biggest and most important IT contract and is a follow-on to the very successful NetCents I. "
"You'd think that the Air Force would have made sure the reasoning behind its award decisions was bullet proof. Or at least bullet proof enough to go through the GAO review process. Shouldn't you make awards on a contract this big and this important with the confidence that you can withstand a protest? "
"Protests have become so commonplace that they seem to be part of company growth strategies. A case like this makes me think that a smart company should protest any losing bid because you'll automatically get an extra shot."
"I don't agree with some commenters who called the protesters cry babies. No, sir, they aren't. They are doing what's necessary to hang onto business."
"What does this mean for the rest of the NetCents II program? More protests and more delays, I guess."
Oops! Redo. Air Force to Re-Open NC2 Products
2 May 2012
Washington Technology reports that the Air Force has asked the Government Accountability Office to dismiss a group of bid protests over its recent NetCents II awards because the service is rethinking its award decisions.
Washington Technology states that in the Air Force letter to GAO, the service said it will take a "corrective action" on the $6.9 billion contract. "Specifically, the agency intends to reopen discussions with all offerors in the competitive range and allow them to submit another round of final proposal revisions," the Air Force wrote.
A GAO spokesman said the watchdog agency would "likely dismiss all of the protests shortly." He did not give a timeframe for when the cases would be dismissed.
GAO and the Air Force also didn't answer questions on what grounds the protesters had cited or why the Air Force made the decision to reopen the bids just weeks after making the awards.
The [NetCents II] NetCentric Products contract is primarily for hardware and is one of seven contracts under the NetCents II umbrella.
A review of the GAO Docket shows that two more firms filed protests: CounterTrade Products, Inc. and CDW Government, LCC.
So, how long will this redo delay the other NETCENTS II contract awards? Not likely to delay Application Services Small Business as it is in Award phase now. But NETOPS Full and Open, NETOPS Small Business, and Application Services Full And Open are expected to 'slide right.'
Not To Be Left Out - It's Now Nine Firms Protesting NETCENTSII Products awards
1 May 2012
Washington Technology reports that nine companies have filed protests with the Government Accountability Office after they failed to win spots on the $6.9 billion NetCents II contract.
- Integration Technologies Group Inc.
- MicroTechnologies LLC
- Dell Federal Systems
- Sterling Computers Corp
- Harris IT Services Corp
- immixTechnology Inc.
- Insight Public Sector
- FCN Inc
- World Wide Technology Inc
NETCENTSII Products was supposed to be a Least Price, Technically Acceptable competition.
Full Details
4 protest $6.9B NetCents II awards
1 May 2012
Four companies have filed protests with the Government Accountability Office after they failed to win spots on the $6.9 billion NetCents II contract.
- Integration Technologies Group Inc.
- MicroTechnologies LLC
- Dell Federal Systems
- Sterling Computers Corp
Sterling was the first to file, submitting its paperwork to GAO on April 23, according to the agency's website. A decision on its protest is due Aug. 1.
Integration Technologies Group and MicroTech, filed their protests on April 27, with a due date of Aug. 6. Dell filed on April 26 and also expects a decision by Aug. 6.
Commercial products to be sold through the contract include networking equipment, servers and storage, peripherals, multimedia, software, and identity management/biometric hardware and associated software.
NETCENTSII Products Awards Announced Yesterday
17 April 2012
The NETCENTSII NetCentric Products Contract Awards were announced yesterday: "Ace Technology Partners, LLC, Arlington Heights, Ill.; Blue Tech Inc., San Diego, Calif.; FedStore Corp., Rockville, Md.; General Dynamics IT, Needham, Mass.; Global Technology Resources, Inc., Denver, Colo.; GTSI Corp., Herndon, Va.; Iron Bow Technologies, LLC, Chantilly, Va.; M2 Technology, Inc. San Antonio, Texas; and Red River Computer Co., Claremont, N.H., are being awarded a $6,900,000,000 firm fixed price, multiple award, indefinite delivery, and indefinite quantity contract for the purchase of netcentric products for Air Force customers."
- Ace Technology Partners, LLC , contract number: FA8771-12-D-1020
- Blue Tech Inc., Contract Number: FA8771-12-D-1021
- FedStore Corporation, Contract Number: FA8771-12-D-1022
- General Dynamics IT, Contract Number: FA8771-12-D-1023
- Global Technology Resources, Inc., Contract Number: FA8771-12-D-1024
- GTSI Corp., Contract Number: FA8771-12-D-1025
- Iron Bow Technologies, LLC, Contract Number: FA8771-12-D-1026
- M2 Technology, Inc., Contract Number: FA8771-12-D-1027
- Red River Computer Company, Contract Number: FA8771-12-D-1028
April NETCENTSII Awards May Be Coming True
16 April 2012
Confirmed but unofficial reports of NETCENTSII Application Services Small Business and yesterday's announcement of NETCENTSII Products Awards support earlier statements by Air Force officials that NETCENTSII will be awarded this month. Last week, unconfirmed reports of twelve (12) Awards in the NETCENTSII Application Services Small Business contract category suggested the award schedule was being moved up. The App Services contract was scheduled for Award in May ((see graphic below). NETCENTSII.com has confirmed that one of the twelve companies has received a "Notice of Intent to Award."
Today, NETCENTSII NetCentric Products Contract Awards were announced: "Ace Technology Partners, LLC, Arlington Heights, Ill.; Blue Tech Inc., San Diego, CA; FedStore Corp., Rockville, Md.; General Dynamics IT, Needham, Mass.; Global Technology Resources, Inc., Denver, CO; GTSI Corp., Herndon, Va.; Iron Bow Technologies, LLC, Chantilly, Va.; M2 Technology, Inc. San Antonio, Texas; and Red River Computer Co., Claremont, N.H., are being awarded a $6,900,000,000 firm fixed price, multiple award, indefinite delivery, and indefinite quantity contract for the purchase of netcentric products for Air Force customers."
Air Force Forecasting 4th Year Of Declining Small Business Utilization
25 March 2012
Officials from the Air Force Small Business Programs Office describe the multi-year decline in utilization of Small Business in contracting opportunities at several AFCEA or MAJCOM Industry day events this Spring. Mr, Eugene Toni, Director, Socio-Economic Programs, SAF/SB, used the following chart on March 8th to describe the projected continued decline in FY12. With half the fiscal year gone, it appears to be a sound projection as there are, apparently, no projected contracting awards to reverse the trend until NETCENTSII Small Business Companion contracts come on-line in FY13.
This slide identifies a reduction in the AF FY12 Small Business Utilization Goal to 16.9%.
Defense Systems article "Network Centric Solutions-2 (NETCENTSII) Done-Done in April'
23 March 2012
Reporter Kimberly Johnson reports that a "top service official" stated that the much delayed NETCENTS-2 contract will be completed in April. The article goes on to quote Stephen Davis, Chief of the Enterprise Systems Branch of the Air Force Program Executive Office-Enterprise Information Systems (AFPEO-EIS) “We’re projecting awards for those beginning in April, with the last one in September of this year.” This latter statement is consistent with the last schedule release for the NETCENTS-2 program from December of this year.
We noted two themes weaved into the story (full text below). Mr. Davis is quoted as saying the NETCENTS-2 contract will make the Air Force more agile and Small Business friendly. Ms. Johnson did not question these statements.
We hope her opening paragraph statement comes true.
NETOPS Small Business And App Services Award Dates Delayed Again
31 January 2012
The NETCENTS2 Award schedule has been updated. This latest update was simply a PowerPoint slide showing the new award schedule (see below). There are two changes:
- NETCENTS-2 NETOPS and Infrastructure Solutions Small Business Companion contract award is delayed until September 2012
- NETCENTS-2 Application Services F&O contract award is delayed until September 2012
No other categories are affected at this time. There has been no explanation provided for the new delays.
Air Force Official Says NETCENTS-2 Contract Will be Awarded This Year
By Amber Corrin
Defense Systems
Jan 20, 2012
"One of the Air Force's chief goals in 2012 will be to complete award of the $24 billion Network-Centric Solutions-2 (NETCENTS-2) contract in the second and third quarters of 2012, David Van Buren, the Air Force service acquisition executive, said Jan. 20.
"This year is the year," Van Buren said at an AFCEA Northern Virginia event in McLean, Va. "Robust competition is what's caused the delay. So many people that bid on these programs and expressed interest that it was a huge task to go through the source selection. We fully intend to award these contracts in the second and third quarters of this calendar year."
NETCENTS-2 is the follow-on to the Air Force's original Network Centric Solutions program, a broad, five-year, $9 billion procurement program for a range of network-centric supplies and services, including hardware and software for networking and various engineering, software development, system integration, security and telephone services.
The program has been dogged by delays, going back at least as far as September 2009, when NETCENTS was set to expire and was subsequently extended by a year.
But Van Buren said progress is being made. Initial NETCENTS-2 awards for strategic advisory and assistance services in the areas of enterprise integration and service management were made in November 2010 and are in source selection, he said.
Close to half of NETCENTS-2's value -- $11 billion – is available to small business. Contracts that aren't small business set-asides require a minimum of 23 percent small business subcontracting, Van Buren said. There also are two small business companion contracts, in network operations and application services, he said.
According to Van Buren, the use of small business is a key part of the partnership between government and industry – and also critical to innovation and broader Air Force transformation in 2012."
WOW! Slide Right Continues for NETCENTS-2 Award Dates
25 October 2011
The NETCENTS2 Award schedule has been updated. This latest update was simply a PowerPoint slide showing the new award schedule (see below). There are two changes:
- NETCENTS-2 Products contract award has pushed to April 2012 (from March 2012)
- NETCENTS-2 NetOps F&O contract award has pushed to June 2012 (from May 2012)
No other categories are affected at this time. There has been no explanation provided for the new delays.
FLASH: DHS Connections II Awards Made
10/21/2011
A bit of a departure as this news is not NC2 related, but Connections II Award announcements were made on October 17/18 to selected Primes. The awardees have not been publically announced so we'll not break the confidence. Good News: If your firm or Connections II team got the call, congratulations. Bad news: If you haven't heard yet, better start focusing on ITES-3H!
AFITC Briefing focuses on NETCENTS-2 Mandatory Use Policy
2 September 2011
For NC2 devotees there was no new information provided by Stephen Davis and Ardis Hearn at the NETCENTS-2 briefing held at AFITC this week in Montgomery. The presentation was clearly aimed at Air Force users, not industry, in focusing on the Mandatory Use Policy, its rationale, governance, and waiver process might be used. Stephen Davis is the Chief, Enterprise Systems Branch, AFPEO-EIS, and Ardis Hearn is the Chief Engineer, NETCENTS-2, Enterprise Services Division. The Mandatory Use Policy was signed out in May (2011) by SAF/A6 and SAF/AQ.
In a departure from previous AFITC briefings, Mr. Davis took questions from the packed session from both industry and NC-2 Users. A question was asked about the postponement of the NETCENTS-2 ITPS contract competition which was answered as a resource availability issue, not a change in the requirement or commitment for the ITPS contract competition. An Air Force user brought up a problem he encountered on the awarded EISM contract in pursuing a Waiver whose delay resulted in lost funding. A question was asked about how the NETOPS contract Task Orders would be assigned to either the Unrestricted or Small Business Companion contract given that the RFP requirements were identical; would there be a DELEX Decision/Rule of Two type determination made centrally? Mr. Davis answered by saying the Contracting Officer at origin would make that determination. Ardis Hearn added that the two efforts were not identical as the Unrestricted competition required a "CMMI or ISO Qualification." (ED: The Small Business Companion RFP also required CMMI or ISO qualiifications to bid.)
Slide Right Continues for NETCENTS-2 Award Dates
26 August 2011
On the eve of the AFITC 2011 conference in Montgomery, the NETCENTS-2 Contract Award dates for NETOPS and Infrastructure Solutions were moved out one quarter. The NETOPS Unrestricted contract award is now scheduled for May 2012 and the Small Business Companion contract award date is now August 2012. The Service Disabled Veteran set-aside ITPS contract has been postponed indefinitely; the Air Force offered "resource constraints" to explain the postponement.
Dayton IT Symposium Update for NETCENTS-2
5 July 2011
The NETCENTS-2 Update provided by Stephen Davis, Chief, Enterprise Systems Branch, AFPEO EIS, highlighted four "Notable Aspects" for the NETCENTS-2 contract:
- Mandatory Use Policy Approved 16 May 2011
- Small Business Benefits
- Small Business Graduate Transition (AKA Off-Ramp)
- On-Ramps
The approved Mandatory Use Policy makes NC-2 mandatory for all USAF units (exception ITPS contract) which will support the "big" Air Force efforts to track and control IT spend. It is intended to ensure adherence to the AF Enterprise Architecture. There will be a Waiver process but it is designed to require substantial justification (read: a disincentive). Mr. Davis highlighted the support for Small Business contracting in the two SB Companion contracts (NetOps, Appsvs) and the ITPS set-aside for Service Disabled Veteran businesses. Small business primes who experience organic growth will be offered an opportunity to transition to the unrestricted contract while small business primes who fail to recertify due to merger or acquisition will "graduate OFF" the NC-2 contract. This effectively means "no buy-ins" post award as Harris Corp did of NETCENTS Small Business prime Multimax on the existing contract. There will be "On-Ramps" as needed to augment the Small Business contract pool to ensure adequate participation and competition by small business. Mr. Davis stated the same RFP process and evaluation criteria will be used for On-Ramps.
NETCENTS-2 EISM Awards Announced
16 December 2010
The contracts for the Network-Centric Solutions-2 (NETCENTS-2) Enterprise Integration and Service Management (EISM), Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) category have been awarded on 30 November 2010. This acquisition will provide users with services to enable 1) enterprise integration, and 2) service management support for both infrastructure and mission capabilities. This will include services to integrate capabilities within a domain and between domains within the enterprise.
- Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
- CACI Enterprise Solutions, Inc.
- Deloitte Consulting LLP
- Dynamics Research Corporation
- Science Applications International Corporation
- TechTeam Government Solutions, Inc. (now known as JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP INC)
This is a multiple award IDIQ with a ceiling of $460 Million.
NETOPS Small Business ON/OFF Ramp Strategy
16 January 2010
The common theme in the many discussions with NETCENTS Primes and NETCENTS2 hopefuls attending and exhibiting at last week's CyberSpace 2010 conference was that the delay in NETCENTS2 RFP release was due to PEO level questions on the NETOPS and Infrastructure Solutions Small Business strategy surrounding ON/OFF Ramping companies who grow out of the size standard. The alternative theme was that the GAO/Delex Decision - "Rule of Two" planning was the delay. At the December Air Force IT Day hosted by AFCEA NOVA, the 754th ELSG Technical Director indicated the Delex Decision/Rule of Two was not part of NETCENTS strategy as DOD Acquisition Authority had not provided specific direction on the ruling.
RFP Release Schedule Delay Announcement Delayed to NEW HORIZONS
14 January 2010
The current scuttlebutt on NETCENTS2 RFP schedule delay is that all have been pushed back a month to February. A Program source attending the AFCEA CyberSpace 2010 conference in Colorado Springs this past week indicated that an announcement regarding the NETCENTS2 schedule would be made at the upcoming New Horizons Symposium in Boston (January 26,27th). The CyberSpace 2010 conference was very well attended with approximately 750 registrants according to AFCEA Rocky Mountain chapter sources.
"Merry Christmas And Happy New Year to Industry"
NETCENTS2 First RFPs to be Released after January 4th
21 December 2009
NETCENTS2 Contracting Officer, Francine Nix, update posted Friday, Dec 18th, to HERBB states the Netcentric Products and Enterprise Integration and Service Management (EISM) RFPs will be released after 4 Jan 10. The NetOps and Infrastructure Solutions and Application Services RFP releases will follow as soon as possible. Additional important changes announced were:
- A new Cost-Reimbursable Sample Task Order has been developed for the Application Services full and open RFP and the Application Services small business companion RFP. (The sample task order is the same for both RFPs.)
- A new Cost-Reimbursable Sample Task Order has been developed for the EISM RFP.
- Section M of the Past Performance volume, paragraph 3.5, Relevancy, language pertaining to OCONUS and CONUS was clarified.
- Offeror's are required to submit maximum labor hour rates for Network Operations (NetOps) and Infrastructure Solutions, Application Services, and EISM.
- Clarifying language for teaming arrangements provided
NETCENTS2 Acquisition Ceiling Raised to $24.2 Billion
10 December 2009
The 754th ELSG Director, Greg Garcia, announced a substantial increase to the ceiling for the NETCENTS2 procurement at the AFCEA NoVA Air Force IT day event held December 10th. The majority of the $5B increase will be in the NETOPS & Infrastructure Solutions Full & Open and Small Business Companion categories to fund expected new Cyber requirements principally at AF Spacecomm. Their individual ceilings were raised to $7.91B and $5.39B respectively (see chart below).
OOPS, They Slid it Again ..."
23 November 2009
The Maxwell-Gunter Annex located NETCENTS-2 Contracting Office released an update late Monday stating the first RFP releases will be delayed, again. The release identified the Netcentric Products and Enterprise Integration and Service Management (EISM) as being the first RFPs to be released. They are now "rephased" to December 2009. This means the primes for the other six categories can breathe a bit easier over the Holidays as those RFPs release won't come until late January 2010.
Q&A's Released
16 November 2009
NETCENTS-2 Contracting Office released Questions and Answers on November 13, 2009. The Contracting Office anticipates an RFP for this requirement will be released in December 2009.
Let the games begin: NETCENTS-2 MIRT/OSD PEER Reviews COMPLETE
6 November 2009
NETCENTS-2 Contracting Officer, Francine Nix, update states the Air Force Multi-functional Independent Review (MIRT) and OSD Peer Reviews were completed in October, as planned, for Products, NETOPS Infrastructure Solutions, Application Services, and Enterprise Integration and Service Management (EISM)categories with a team currently incorporating comments from those reviews and Business Clearance.
Additionally, comments on the latest NetOps and Infrastructure Solutions Section C, H, L, and M are generally answered with a few remaining questions being reviewed. Responses are anticipated to be released in the next few weeks with RFPs anticipated to be released starting November 2009. It is generally believed the Products and Applications Services RFPs will be released first, followed by NETOPS and EISM a month later. If you follow INPUT's predictions, they continue to hold to their estimate that December 2009 is the more likely release timeframe.
NETCENTS-2 Acquisition Plan APPROVED
9 October 2009
NETCENTS-2 Contracting Officer, Francine Nix, indicates the forma
l Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy approval for NETCENTS-2 acquisition strategy was received 6 October 2009.
The Air Force's Multi-functional Independent Review Team review and Peer Review for Netcentric Products and NetOps & Infrastructure Solutions are scheduled this month of October.
Full Details
NETCENTS-2 RFP Releases Sliding 'Right'
30 September 2009
An update posted on HERBB today indicate there are further reviews required resulting in another slippage in the release date.
- Current proposed schedule release for Application Services (Full & Open) and Small Business Companion RFPs will be no later than November 2009.
- Current proposed schedule release for EISM RFP will be no later than November 2009.
- Current proposed schedule release for NetOps and Infrastructure Solutions RFP will be no later than December 2009.
- Current proposed schedule release for Netcentric Products RFP will be no later than December 2009.
NAICS Code Shopping and Small Business Concerns highlighted in FederalComputerWeek
The August 28, 2009 online article by Matthew Weigelt quotes an un-named owner of an 80 employee small business who believes "They're basically shopping the NAICS codes" in a way that disadvantages small business owners in favor of larger firms under the new NAICS code chosen by the Air Force.
Link to the full article at FCW
The dispute revolves around the NAICS code picked for the NetOps and Infrastructure Solutions small business companion contract. Under the wireless telecom carriers code, small businesses are defined as those having fewer than 1,500 employees, while other category size code set the standard as less than $25 million in annual revenue.
"NetCents 2 contract dogged by code-shopping allegation"
The charge was repeated in a WashingtonTechnology blog the next day also written by Matthew Weigelt. In the article, code shopping is described as the practice of choosing NAICS codes that allow favored or larger companies to bid as small businesses, rather than those that most fairly apply to the contract's scope of work.