End of the road for NMCI

A 10-year $9.9 billion outsourcing contract to build the Navy Marine Corps Intranet will end in September 2010, and the Navy is trying to figure out the next step to keep the project alive.

The Navy has made it clear that it will be more active in a hands-on management of NMCI's successor, and it is unclear how outsourced the next contract will even be. Although private industry will play a role in building and supporting the Next-Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN), the Navy has not yet decided whether there will be a sole provider--like EDS was in the 10-year project--or whether the Navy will retake control of the project.

When the Navy awarded the $9.9 billion NMCI contract to EDS 10 years ago, it required that the company supply IT services to 700,000 mostly U.S onshore users, with little Naval input or interference. In the succeeding years, other issues have cropped up that may require more involved Navy control and the ability of the military to react far more quickly to issues such as cyber warfare.

Whatever the Navy's decision, this is one big contract that will be coming down the pike, and it will involve the military's plans for the future that are likely to be different than the past.

For more on the future of the Navy's NMCI contract:
- check out this FederalComputerWeek article