Navy Misses NMCI Deadline, IT Services Continue Under "Bridge Contracts"

The Navy has struggled to meet its fiscal year deadline for the Navy/ Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) program, a critical IT modernization effort aimed at linking Navy and Marine computer network users. Despite industry teams led by General Dynamics, IBM, Electronic Data Systems, and Computer Sciences Corp. competing for the program, the Navy's plan to wait until Congress finishes its work on the FY '01 Defense Authorization Bill has delayed the contract award. Meanwhile, bridge contracts will continue to support the service's IT programs until NMCI is contracted, with the first Navy department to receive NMCI being the Naval Aviation Systems Command.

Key Takeaways:

The Navy has missed its fiscal year deadline to award the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) program, with industry teams led by General Dynamics, IBM, Electronic Data Systems, and Computer Sciences Corp. competing for the contract.
The Navy's plan to wait until Congress finishes its work on the FY '01 Defense Authorization Bill has delayed the contract award, despite a 30-day bridge contract in place to fill the gap until NMCI comes online.
The Naval Aviation Systems Command is the first Navy department to receive NMCI, with plans to phase in the new system as it becomes available.
NMCI aims to provide coherent IT interoperability with other services and allies, with the system expected to cost around $1.4 billion to operate by 2004.
The Navy currently spends an average of $4,582 per seat annually on IT connectivity, with the NMCI estimate indicating a cost savings of around $100 million annually.

Statistics:

335,000 "seats" on Navy networks today
$4,582 average cost per seat annually for IT connectivity
$1.5 billion annual cost of current IT connectivity efforts
$1.4 billion estimated annual cost of NMCI by 2004
FY '01 Defense Authorization Bill: conference report in final stages of completion

Sources:

Defense Daily, March 21
Defense Daily, June 21