FITARA and Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions Spending

Key Takeaways

• Agency spending on EIS should total close to, if not more than, $1B in FY 2022.
• Departments given weak or failing grades on the FITARA Scorecard for the Networx to EIS transition actually lead spending on the EIS contracts.
• Vendors leading earnings on EIS should see much higher totals in FY 2022.

The House Government Operations Subcommittee recently released the latest iteration of its Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) Scorecard tracking the compliance of federal agencies against a set of legislative benchmarks established to improve the management of Information Technology. One area of the Scorecard that has received a lot of attention is the “Transition off Networx” category as agencies are required to have migrated their telecommunications contracts off of the expiring Networx vehicle onto the newer Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) vehicle offered by the General Services Administration by March 2022.

Of the 24 agencies listed on the FITARA Scorecard, only 4 scored an “A” in this category. Another 2 agencies scored a “D” and 15 agencies scored an “F,” bringing the total of agencies showing disappointing results to 17 altogether. What lies behind the scores is a question mark for most in industry. Do these marks mean that the agencies with disappointing results are lagging behind those with good results? Not necessarily. Let’s take a look at the spending data for EIS.

Spending by Fiscal Year

According to the data shown below, spending on EIS began ramping up in fiscal 2020. Then it more than doubled in fiscal 2021.

Spending during Fiscal Year 2022 has gotten off to a fast start, too. With only one quarter behind us, agencies have spent more than $200M. If this pace continues (it should accelerate), then we can confidently conclude that spending on EIS will reach at least $800M this fiscal year. In reality, because agencies spend significantly more during the 4th quarter, total spending is likely to be well over $1B, even when a full year Continuing Resolution is looking increasingly possible.

Spending by Agency

Drilling down into the spending by agency yields the following insight.

When examining the data from this perspective, the FITARA scores make less sense. For example, at $221M, the Social Security Administration has spent more on EIS than any other department, yet the SSA received a “D” on the scorecard. The Department of Defense, similarly, received a score of “F,” even though it spent more than any other department, except SSA. The “Other” category, by the way, includes 35 agencies and departments beyond the top 10, which are listed here.

Spending by EIS Vendor

There are no surprises when it comes to the EIS vendors earning the most from the push to change contract vehicles.

All of the EIS vendors should benefit from the flood of obligations coming their way, but don’t be surprised if the current leaders add significantly to their coffers during this fiscal year.