The Navy's latest request for information from industry for its Next Generation Enterprise Network contract, released Jan. 5, is looking specifically for feedback on buying end-user hardware.
The current NGEN contract expires in 2018, and work is well under way to prepare the Navy for the next round of what likely will be a large-scale contract, providing network services for the massive Navy-Marine Corps Intranet. The new RFI is the second bid for industry feedback; an earlier RFI was released last fall.
Navy officials are seeking to consolidate the dispersed approaches used across the service, as well as the Marine Corps, to acquire end-user hardware and related services for NMCI.
According to the RFI, currently the Navy receives all end-user hardware and related services from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services as part of the existing NGEN contract, which operates and manages NMCI. The Marine Corps buys end-user hardware through its own Marine Corps Common Hardware Suite contracts, while their services are provided by government civilian, military and contractor support personnel under a government-owned/government-operated model.
But expect that to change in the NGEN recompete – the follow-on agreement likely will bring most of those sources, supplies and services together under an end-user hardware contract – one that likely will emphasize scalability and flexibility.
That contract will cover more than just computers, printers, headsets and the usual hardware. Navy officials say it should include provisioning, storage, configuration, hardware maintenance and end-of-term disposition of classified and unclassified workstations, deployable workstations and associated peripherals.
"The [Navy Department] intends to use the [end-user hardware] contract to acquire end-user hardware both as a service and via purchase," quantified by number of seats, according to the RFI. "A 'seat' is equivalent to a computer, which includes laptop, desktop, tablet, and virtual desktop or thin/zero client devices. A single seat may support multiple users and their associated accounts. Seats are required for both the classified Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNet) and unclassified non-classified Internet Protocol Network (NIPRNet)."
Responses to the RFI are due Jan. 15.
