CHESS awards $13 billion ITES-SW2 contract

FORT BELVOIR, Virginia – The Army Computer Hardware Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) office, in coordination with Army Contracting Command – Rock Island (ACC-RI), awarded the Information Technology Enterprise Solutions – Software 2 (ITES-SW2) contract—a $13 billion firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract vehicle—on August 31, 2020.

The Army Contracting Command received 32 bids for the ITES-SW2 solicitation and awarded 31 contracts. ITES-SW2 is specifically designed as the primary source to support the Army’s enterprise information technology (IT) infrastructure and info-structure goals, by leveraging commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software products and maintenance in 14 product categories, in addition to related incidental services and hardware. These 14 categories align with the major software categories identified by the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM). Ordering on ITES-SW2 will begin after the phase-in period. The software catalogs are:

·        Audio & Visual

·        Business & Finance

·        Communication

·        Database

·        Education

·        Internet

·        Modeling & Simulation

·        Multimedia & Design

·        NetOps

·        Office Suite

·        Operating Systems

·        Programming & Development

·        IT Utility & Security

·        Specialized

CHESS contracts are designed to keep pace with emerging technology and applications, and provide the technology solutions to meet the Army’s needs of today and the future.

CHESS product lead, Wayne Sok, said, “I'm very proud of the combined work that the Information Systems Engineering Command (ISEC), ACC-Rock Island and the CHESS team have done to award this software contract vehicle. ITES-SW2 will provide a wide scope of COTS software solutions, licensing models and technology refresh capabilities for the Army. I'm excited to be hosting the kickoff meeting very soon and look forward to enabling the delivery of critical COTS software to Army, Department of Defense (DOD) and federal customers.”

The ITES-SW2 awardees are:

• Blazar Tech Solutions
• Blue Tech Inc.
• Carahsoft
• CDW Government
• Countertrade Products
• Cypher Analytics/Crowne Point Systems
• DH Technology
• DLT Solutions
• Dynamic Systems Inc.
• Enterprise Technologies Solutions
• Epoch Concepts
• FedBiz IT Solutions
• Force 3 LLC
• Four Inc.
• GovConnection Inc.
• GovPlace
• ID Technologies
• immixTechnologies
• Iron Bow Technologies
• ITG
• MicroTech
• New Tech Solutions
• PCMG
• Red River Technology LLC
• SHI International Corp.
• Strategic Communication LLC
• ThunderCat Technology
• Vertosoft
• Walker and Associates
• World Wide Technologies
• York Telcom

Based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, CHESS reports to the Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS). Charged by the CIO/G-6 and mandated through Army Regulation 25-1, CHESS is the Army-designated primary source for providing commercial hardware and software solutions for the Army's IT requirements. Offering simple, straightforward contract vehicles through its online Army e-commerce ordering system, the IT e-mart, CHESS directly supports the CIO/G-6 strategy by providing the benefits of continuous vendor competition for best value and consolidating requirements to maximize cost avoidance and leverage the Army's buying power. CHESS works diligently with other Army knowledge management partners, including the U.S. Army CIO/G-6, Information Systems Engineering Command, and Network Enterprise Technology Command, to provide architecturally sound, standards- and policy-compliant IT enterprise solutions to all Army customers around the world. For more information about CHESS, visit https://chess.army.mil/.