Transportation looks to repeat success with ITOP II
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26 vendors will sell services on ITOP II The Transportation Department this month awarded 34 contracts that add up to a jumbo governmentwide acquisition vehicle. Transportation awarded the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, worth up to $10 billion over seven years, under its Information Technology Omnibus Procurement II program, a follow-on to its successful ITOP program.
26 vendors will sell services on ITOP II
The Transportation Department this month awarded 34 contracts that add up to a jumbo
governmentwide acquisition vehicle.
Transportation awarded the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, worth up
to $10 billion over seven years, under its Information Technology Omnibus Procurement II
program, a follow-on to its successful ITOP program.
Fifteen small businesses received contracts along with industry giants Electronic Data
Systems Corp., GTE Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Science Applications International Corp.,
SRA International Corp. and Unisys Corp. In all, 26 vendorsout of 65 who submitted
85 proposalswon contracts.
The contracts are open to all agencies, including those in state and local governments,
ITOP officials said.
ITOP II contracts opened for orders the day they were awarded, said Richard A. Lieber,
program manager. Transportation will charge other agencies an order fee ranging from 0.75
percent to 2 percent per order, Lieber said.
As it did for ITOP, Transportation awarded the contracts in three lots or types of
technical service: information systems engineering, systems operations and management, and
information systems security.
At a headquarters award ceremony, Transportation deputy secretary Mortimer L. Downey
said the agency believes ITOP II can build on the successes of the $1.13 billion ITOP
program that cut agencies product delivery times from 700 days to 60 days and
increased buying flexibility.
We didnt know how incredibly successful ITOP would be, Downey said.
ITOP through 1998 generated $900 million in sales. The program saved time and money
because government workers quickly received the information technology tools they needed
to do their jobs, Downey said.
The first ITOP is still open for orders and will stay open through March or until it
reaches the $1.13 billion ceiling, Lieber said.
Buyers under ITOP II will be encouraged to negotiate task orders based on performance.
Lieber said his office would help agency buyers craft documents spelling out for vendors
the customers aims for task orders, letting contractors propose the best way to meet
the objectives.
Transportation officials emphasized that 45 percent of the contracts went to small,
disadvantaged or women-owned business, although no dollar amounts were set aside for those
contractors.
This is a happy occasion for us, said Judith A. Roussel, the Small Business
Administrations associate administrator for government contracting. ITOP
succeeded in leveling the playing field for small business.