AF CIO CANCELS ALL IT CONTRACTS (moved from ATSNN)

from March 7, 2005 OnLineBlog in Europe.

Air Force Cancels All IT Contracts !

According to a well named source, the Air Force CIO, Mr.

John Gilligan has mandated that all current Information

Technology contracts not currently awarded through the

AF NETCENTS contracting vehicle be cancelled effective

Sept 30, 2005. (See January 27, 2005 AF CIO Memo)

Per Mr. Gilligan, ""The NETCENTS contract is the

mandatory source for communications capabilities" and

"All ongoing APF acquisition efforts shall incorporate

NETCENTS" The reasoning for this move is to consolidate

all information technology services and procurements

to one vehicle. A confidential source has confirmed that

this will help the CIO fund IT projects not included in

current congressionally approved budgets. The NETCENTS

contract is a multi-billion-dollar IT contract managed

through Headquarters Systems Support Group at

Gunter Air Force Base.

This contract is open to all DOD agencies but has been

mandated for use for all Air Force IT projects. There are

eight contractors authorized to conduct business through

this contract which provide a 2-4% kickback fee to the

CIO to help fund projects where funding has been cancelled.

It is estimated that over time the Air Force will save

money, but current operations with current contractors

will significantly be hindered. Conversations with some

well established companies, has resulted in learning their

attention to file legal challenges to this mandate.