USAF IT CONTRACTS CANCELLED (moved from ATSNN), page 1

from March 7, 2005 OnLineBlog in Europe.
Air Force Cancels All IT Contracts !

According to a well named source, the Air Force CIO, Mr.
John Gilligan has mandated that all current Information
Technology contracts not currently awarded through the
AF NETCENTS contracting vehicle be cancelled effective
Sept 30, 2005. (See January 27, 2005 AF CIO Memo)

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Per Mr. Gilligan, ““The NETCENTS contract is the
mandatory source for communications capabilities” and
“All ongoing APF acquisition efforts shall incorporate
NETCENTS” The reasoning for this move is to consolidate
all information technology services and procurements
to one vehicle. A confidential source has confirmed that
this will help the CIO fund IT projects not included in
current congressionally approved budgets. The NETCENTS
contract is a multi-billion-dollar IT contract managed
through Headquarters Systems Support Group at
Gunter Air Force Base.
This contract is open to all DOD agencies but has been
mandated for use for all Air Force IT projects. There are
eight contractors authorized to conduct business through
this contract which provide a 2-4% kickback fee to the
CIO to help fund projects where funding has been cancelled.
It is estimated that over time the Air Force will save
money, but current operations with current contractors
will significantly be hindered. Conversations with some
well established companies, has resulted in learning their
attention to file legal challenges to this mandate.