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Letter to CBE Community Regarding Award of OCTO's Pipeline Contract

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Dear CBE Community:

The District of Columbia government awarded contract no. CW 46503 on January 3, 2017 to Computer Aid, Inc. (CAI), in the not-to-exceed amount of $55 million for the base period and for each of the two option years. The purpose of the contract is for CAI to provide the District with information technology (IT) resources to supplement the District’s needs. CAI will provide IT resources directly or through subcontractors to District programs.

This new contract will be referred to as “Pipeline,” and its award culminates a competitive procurement process initiated in May 2016 to transition from the Information Technology Staff Augmentation (ITSA) contract to the next generation of IT staff augmentation vehicles.

Pipeline is intended to be a true IT staffing augmentation contract, and will not be used to acquire resources for projects that should have distinct deliverables to meet specific project requirements. The Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), and the Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP), along with appropriate program agencies will determine whether certain IT requirements will operate under separate contracts with specific project deliverables.

The Pipeline contract has several features that are beneficial to the District and the certified business enterprise (CBE) community including:

  • Pipeline contains a 95 percent CBE subcontracting requirement that enables the District to utilize the talents and resources of our CBE community. In short, the Pipeline contract provides the CBE community subcontracting opportunities up to $52 million.
  • Pipeline contract has updated resource categories and skill requirements to meet the changing technology needs of the District.
  • Pipeline limits CAI to single-tier subcontractors, ensuring that the District avoids paying multiple markups for multiple subcontractor levels. These contract features were designed to provide greater transparency to the public about the companies providing IT services to the District and the cost to taxpayers.

We anticipate that the District will begin placing orders with CAI in mid-February and going forward, most IT staffing requirements will be fulfilled by Pipeline. During the next month, the District and CAI will finalize the ordering procedures and other matters related to the transition.

Together, CAI and the District will ensure that the Pipeline contract complies with the 95 percent subcontracting requirement, furthering our commitment to harness procurement power to invest in the local business community. CAI is an experienced IT staffing firm with a belief that open, honest communication is critical to the success of their partnership with their suppliers. CAI will continue to build their network of local CBE and Small Business Enterprise suppliers through an ongoing open enrollment process.

For more information on the open enrollment process and how to partner with CAI, CBEs should email [email protected] or contact CAI’s Program Director, Ellen Sigl at 717-651-3203. More information about an open enrollment event will be available in the coming weeks from the Department of Small and Local Business Development.

The contract between the District and Computer Aid is available here: http://app.ocp.dc.gov/RUI/information/award/award_detail.asp?award_id=9229

 

Thank you,

George A. Schutter, III
Chief Procurement Officer
District of Columbia


Archana Vemulapalli
Chief Technology Officer
District of Columbia


Ana Harvey
Director
Department of Small and Local Business Development