GSA, Air Force open bidding for $5.5B 2nd Generation IT contract

The General Services Administration, on behalf of the Air Force, kicked off a multiple-award acquisition this week that could be worth up to $5.5 billion.

Last fall, GSA and the Air Force announced their intent to create a blanket purchase agreement to provide hardware, software and IT services to replace the expiring NETCENTS-2 contract with one called 2nd Generation IT (2GIT).

The five-year contract will be split among five line item categories: data center, end user, network, radio equipment, and order level material. In a presolicitation document, GSA said it estimates spending of between $850 million and $1.1 billion on the contract annually. Public solicitation documents did not reveal if that estimate has changed.

Through GSA’s Cooperative Purchasing program, the contract is open to all federal, state, local and tribal agencies “to purchase IT, security, and law enforcement products and services offered through specific Schedule contracts.” GSA will award spots on the contract to several vendors that those agencies can purchase from.

In a message on GSA’s Interact website, the agency champions the savings the BPA will drive governmentwide. “The forthcoming 2GIT BPAs will provide the Government a fast and effective way to order IT hardware and software commodities, ancillary supplies and services at discounted prices with prompt, cost-effective delivery, while capturing economies of scale, fostering markets for sustainable technologies and environmentally preferable products, while simplifying data collection.”

GSA will host a virtual conference on the solicitation March 14 to answer questions from industry. Bids are due by April 18.