Page 8 - FCW, March/April 2021

Software with all the Trimmings: The Obvious Choice
Software is an integral part
of all business processes
today, yet many organizations
still make the mistake of choosing software without considering how
it might impact the rest of their environment. Agencies that choose the best software for their needs
and surround it with the right processes, procedures, strategy and infrastructure are more productive, experience less human error, and are best positioned to take on new tasks.
Take cybersecurity software,
for example. There are dozens of categories of cybersecurity software for every conceivable requirement, along with more comprehensive software suites. It can be confusing to understand the capabilities of each and map those capabilities
to the organization’s cybersecurity requirements. Cybersecurity
must be well thought out and systematically implemented.
That’s just the type of scenario best suited to the newest ITES contract. The Information Technology Enterprise Solutions— Software 2 (ITES-SW2) contract, awarded in August, is a ten-year, $13 billion firm fixed price indefinite quantity/indefinite delivery (IDIQ) contract focusing on software,
along with the hardware and services needed to best implement that software. It is mandatory for the Army, but open to all federal agencies and departments. The contract ensures that users get software that is approved for
their particular networks, with standardized terms and conditions and no additional contract fees.
There are a few differences between the previous ITES-SW
contract and ITES-SW2. ITES- SW1 supported only the Army, and was a pilot comprised of four software product categories with
a five-year period of performance. ITES-SW2 has a total of 14 software product categories, a period of performance of 10 years and supports the Army, DoD and all federal agencies. In comparison, all products offered under former ITES-SW1 were required to have
a Certificate of Networthiness (CoN) and can’t be offered on any other enterprise agreement, while ITES-SW2 offers both products that have been certified and those that haven’t. Finally, ITES-SW1 had a cap on related incidental services, which made it extremely difficult for customers to fulfill their related services requirements. This caused customers to solicit
The Current ITES Family of Contracts with Focus and Spending Ceiling
ITES-SW2 2020
ITES-3H 2016
ITES-4H (expected 2021 Q3) ITES-3S 2018
Software Hardware Hardware Services
Full range of products & solutions $13B Product solutions approach $5B follow-on to 3H $10B Mandatory use for commercial IT services $12B
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