Six Takeaways from the CHESS Panel at AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days

PEO EIS’s Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) team, led by Product Lead Wayne Sok, kicked off AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days (ABID) Nov. 3 with a panel discussion about current and future opportunities. The panel, moderated by former EIS Deputy Program Executive Officer Lee Harvey, provided ABID attendees with a general CHESS overview, updates on the organization’s suite of contracts, and a primer on how to work with CHESS.

The following six takeaways were based on the panel presentation, and accompanying question and answer session.

1)      CHESS is actively addressing cyber and supply chain risk management. “We need your help to make sure you have a good handle on the supply chain; the Army is doing the same,” said Sok, noting that CHESS is involved in several related working groups and implementation planning teams. “At the end of the day, we want to make sure we’re identifying bad actors.”

2)      Once awarded, ITES-4H will be the Army’s mandatory source for IT hardware. “It’s a big deal,” said Sok of the active solicitation with an estimated $10 billion ceiling. “We want to make sure we get it right because it impacts many customers.” ITES-4H is intended to be a total solutions-based, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) IT contract vehicle, including items that are for the fielding of a complete system, or part of a total design solution for all equipment provided on the contract.

3)      Meanwhile, CHESS’s ITES-3H contract will be extended for an additional 16 months to August 2023. “Go to the primes on ITES-3H and partner with them,” advised CHESS Product Officer Mitsuko Coulby. To subcontract with current primes, companies can visit the CHESS IT E-Mart and search for the desired contract vehicle.

4)      CHESS is examining the current 30% bid rate for participation on ITES-3S. “Our intent is to have a best-in-class contract vehicle, and the Army made it mandatory,” said Sok. “We’re looking closely at the data; we need you to tell us what your pain points and challenges are.” To do so, companies can request calls or meetings with CHESS representatives.

5)      CHESS is making its contract vehicles more cloud-friendly. Stacy Watson, enterprise solutions division director at CHESS, pointed to cloud-related labor categories in the ITES-3S contract, and Sok noted the “as-a-service” language in the ITES-SW2 contract. “We also push people to the Enterprise Cloud Management Agency,” he added.

6)      CHESS is getting granular with data to identify trends. "We are constantly analyzing how to improve the data quality that we provide to the Army, DOD and federal agencies to help shape how COTS IT is procured in the future." said Sok.

Businesses seeking to compete for future versions of CHESS contracts can monitor SAM for newly released solicitations or the PEO EIS Business Opportunities page for the latest procurement forecast. CHESS is part of PEO EIS’s Enterprise Services portfolio.