Navy is Getting Ready for NGEN Recompete

As the follow-on effort to the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI), the NGEN contract facilitated the Navy’s move to reacquire its network infrastructure and assume more control over its management. Those who have watched the NMCI-NGEN contract transition process recall that it was a long, laborious process.

At a recent AFCEA Northern Virginia Naval IT Day, the huge Navy IT contract was mentioned by several presenters for its influence and centrality to Navy’s IT present and future. Dr. John Zangardi, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for C4I/IO and Space and Acting Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer, referred to NGEN as a means to adopting more innovation. Zangardi said NGEN is aiding the Navy’s transition to the cloud as well as their efforts to move forward on Joint Regional Security Stack (JRSS) 2.0. Zangardi also said that the Navy is moving their Data Center and Application Optimization (DCAO) program office from under the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) to under Program Executive Office-Enterprise Information Systems (PEO-EIS). This would “better align [data center] consolidation efforts with network efforts and more fully leverage the NGEN contract,” as reported by Fed News Radio.

Vice Admiral Ted Branch, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance and Director of Naval Intelligence called NGEN an enabler to the DoD’s Joint Information Environment (JIE) efforts and that they are working to identify NGEN offerings as joint services.

More specific details were provided by Phil Anderson, Deputy Program Manager for Naval Enterprise Networks (NEN). Anderson noted that the NGEN contract that expires June 2018 covers 34 services, 700K+ users across 2,500+ sites. The recompete will be used to procure managed IT services as well as support labor, hardware, software, tools and training, and data/metrics/information support. Preparations are well underway for the new competition and some differences in the next contract are likely. (See table below.)

The Future of NGEN

Recompete Preparations Include …

Likely Differences from Current NGEN …

o Multiple forms for interchange with industry o Improved processes for industry-government information exchange o Leveraging industry inputs to ensure robust interest o Aligning network and the required services with commercial service delivery, security and affordability options o Closely examining fit, scale, compatibility, flexibility, and maturity o Tailor the contract strategy(s) to match the Navy customer demand

o Influenced by commercial practices, need for agility, vendor core competencies o >1 contract may be needed o May include an “integration” element o Include OCONUS networks and CONUS and OCONUS Piers o Include data center management and cloud services o Expanded Navy C2 and maneuverability o Shortened transition period (not the 13 month transition as under the first NGEN)

Tom LaTurno, Enterprise Data Manager, Marine Corps Systems Command and the Marine Corps NGEN lead noted that the NGEN recompete will integrate both the NIPRNet and SIPRNet. Further, he said that while today they don’t buy their hardware and software on contract, they plan to do that in the future. Anderson added that they are looking strategically at how they will include WLAN and mobility on the new contract. He stressed that they will be working to balance speed, security, scalability, reliability and cost on the next go-round.

The first of two requests for information (RFI) is anticipated mid-July 2015 and Anderson said that there will probably be two RFIs.