February 12, 2014 -- Two teams from Information Systems and Infrastructure at Marine Corps Systems Command have received Information Management and Information Technology Excellence awards from the Department of the Navy.
The DON Next-Generation Enterprise Network Contract Source Selection Team was recognized for supporting successful evaluation and award of the multi-billion-dollar NGEN contract.
The DON Enterprise Software Licensing Team was recognized for saving money through enterprise license agreements to maintain commercial software across the DON.
Both awards were presented Feb. 11 in San Diego during the Western Conference and Exposition (West 2014), the largest event on the West Coast for the sea services and contractors that support them.
MCSC is the DON’s systems command for Marine Corps ground weapon and information technology systems. It is also the Marine Corps commandant's agent for acquisition and sustainment of warfighting systems and equipment.
For the NGEN team, their award capped months of hard work and 10-hour days helping the Source Selection Evaluation Board decide on a successor to manage the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet contract.
“Without a seamless integrated Navy and Marine Corps team, the SSEB would never have accomplished awarding the largest information technology acquisition services contract in the Department of Defense and likely the federal government,” said team member Rich Sitch. “Most importantly, in an environment of limited budget resources, the team demonstrated strong stewardship of taxpayer dollars by achieving $1 billion in savings over current spending.”
Fellow team member Terry Carter added it was a great learning experience to work alongside Navy and Marine Corps senior leaders.
“The NGEN SSEB took 11 months and required a lot of long hours,” Carter said. “The knowledge and guidance I received from the Navy procurement contracting officers will be a constant reminder of why excellence in acquisition is critical.”
The joint NGEN team included experts from MCSC; Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command; Program Executive Officer for Enterprise Information Systems; Marine Corps Cyberspace Command; Marine Corps Network Operations and Security Center; and Fleet Cyber Command.
In addition to Sitch and Carter, the MCSC contingent on the NGEN team included Allen Johnson, Jeff Lee and Noel Bishop.
The second IM/IT award was presented to the DON Enterprise Software Licensing Team. This is a multi-organization group, according to Stephen Cabrian, deputy product manager for IT Strategic Sourcing, who served on the team.
“We are truly a combined Navy and Marine Corps team with seamless coordination at the command, geographic and functional levels,” he said.
At the command level, MCSC, PEO-EIS, Naval Supply Systems Command and SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific all have full-time team members. Geographically, the team is spread across the United States from California to Virginia, connected by conference calls and video teleconferences. Functionally, the team includes contracting officers, program manager competency, financial managers, logisticians, legal counsel and cost analysts.
“They all work together and cover for each other,” said Lyle Cross, product manager for IT Strategic Sourcing with ISI. “The emphasis is on sharing information.”
Other MCSC team members include Traneisha Bailey Williams, Dan Corbin, Dave Ditton, Holly Goodson, Teresa Hardisty, Shekela Hutchinson, Pat Lyons and Katie Samulevich.
Working under the acquisition authority of PEO EIS, the Enterprise Software Licensing Team collaborated to establish Navy-wide enterprise license agreements. These agreements resulted in actual or projected savings of $80 million over the future years defense program. The team manages the existing portfolio of Navy agreements and applies lessons learned to the execution of enterprise license agreements in the pipeline.
As Cross emphasized, the ESL team’s work is continuing and expanding.
“We’ve awarded three agreements and are working on seven more,” he said. “More may be added as demand grows for a specific software type. Everyone works well together. Their diligence and hard work these last few years will continue as we push through all phases of the awards.”