Page 39 - FCW, September/October 2019

VIEWPOINT
How will the EIS movie end?
BY BOB WOODS
The federal government’s move to Enterprise Infrastructure Solu- tions (EIS, or more aptly named Even I Smell a rat) was adver- tised as a major transformation opportunity for industry to bring current technology into govern- ment. In reality, though, the first awards show the tenacity with which federal agencies will cling to their current services and therefore to the companies that provide those services.
New entrants and incumbents hoping to
have a fair chance to
compete on the basis of
system design and costs
look to be the real losers,
along with taxpayers.The
costs to bid on the $50 bil-
lion program ran into the
tens of millions of dollars
for each of the bidders.
Now, after all the program hype and apparently good inten- tions by the General Services Administration and lawmakers, the agencies’ dogs aren’t eating the dog food.Their rigged and slanted solicitations to industry are faint versions of the original promises.
When new network services are sought from industry, the central question is how much modernization and enhancement can be done while changing systems. Keeping functions the same but replacing components is usually referred to as a like- for-like transition — or keep the buggy, but get new whips and canvas.
Transformation means funda- mentally changing the sys-
tem functions to better, more advanced ones. We build self- propelled vehicles with internal combustion engines, so no more whips, horses or harnesses. By definition, transformation is a radical shift in how a functional service is provided and a new opportunity to innovate or engi- neer a better solution.
Although transformation was always in the eye of the behold- er, recent fair opportunities such
as the Justice Department’s solicitation reflect the slant to the incumbent. When other awardees will not spend bid and proposal dollars because they believe an agency has made up its mind, it’s time to take another look. Rumor has it that there was initially only one bidder on an award approaching $1 bil- lion. Something is wrong when an opportunity this size cannot receive robust competition.
As a past federal executive, I will admit that questions from Congress can often seem like needless meddling. On the other hand, we were dealing with the deregulation of a major monop- oly when the Bell System was broken up in the 1980s. As the industry further deregulated,
new barriers to entry arose. Large players found ways to use complicated billing and ordering systems to keep new entrants from participating. Government compounded the problem by asking for complicated systems in its public solicitations. In addi- tion, complex and costly certifi- cations added to time, cost and system performance challenges.
Almost all the revenue on EIS awarded to date has gone
to incumbents. It may
get worse if new entrants become discouraged
and exit the playing field, damaging competition and prices in the process.
It’s time for the Office of Management and Budget, Congress and the industry to determine if what we promised on EIS is taking place at federal agencies.
Waiting for an “I told you so” audit report five years from now will not get transformation and modernization done in federal agencies. Spending over a $100 billion a year on federal IT and not following up on program performance is not going to make government better. It’s doing the same thing while expecting a different result.
I’ve seen this movie before, and I’m afraid I know how it ends. n
Bob Woods is president of Top- side Consulting Group. He is a former commissioner of GSA’s FederalTechnology Service and led IT operations at the depart- ments ofTransportation and Veterans Affairs.
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