Network-Centric Solutions (NETCENTS)

The Department of the Air Force Materiel Command Lifecycle Management Center awarded this Master IDIQ on October 1, 2003, to provide Air Force, Department of Defense, and other federal agencies with networking equipment supply and system engineering, installation, integration, operations, and maintenance for DoD-adopted standardized networking solutions. Ordering closed on September 8, 2014, making this vehicle inactive for new task orders; the successor vehicle, Network-Centric Solutions II, was awarded on November 30, 2010.

With 10,000 total task orders awarded since award, activity has declined sharply post-closure: the vehicle generated 1,118 orders in 2013, dropped to 6 in 2014, and saw only 4 orders combined in 2015–2017. The most recent task order was issued on September 15, 2017. Combined task-order potential value stands at $11.48 billion, with $9.05 billion obligated (79% of potential value).

Competition is moderately concentrated among 11 prime contractors. By order count, Peraton Inc. leads with 3,671 orders and $1.27 billion potential value, followed by General Dynamics Information Technology with 2,424 orders and $2.26 billion potential value, and Telos Corporation with 2,005 orders and $1.3 billion potential value. By potential value, however, Empower AI holds the largest position at $2.49 billion across 662 orders; General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman Information Systems each hold roughly $2.26 billion and $2.08 billion respectively. The top five primes control about 82% of combined potential value.

Customer concentration is moderate. The top five customer Air Force commands—Air Combat Command, Materiel Command Electronic Systems Center, Air Mobility Command, Air Education and Training Command, and Space Command—account for 53% of task orders. Task orders serve 134 distinct customer agencies across Air Force, DoD, and other federal customers.

Set-aside activity is minimal. Ninety-one percent of orders carry no set-aside designation; 36% are designated Partial Small Business, and only 1% total and less than 1% reserved for small business. Individual task orders typically range from under $3,000 to several hundred thousand dollars, with notable larger orders including a $5.74 billion VoIP phone procurement and $3.11 million IP phone order. Two orders carried ceiling values exceeding obligated amounts, indicating room for expansion within those individual orders.

The purpose of the Air Force Network-Centric Solutions (NETCENTS & NETCENTS II) contract is to provide Air Force, Department of Defense and other Federal Agencies a primary source of networking equipment/product supply and a means of system engineering, installation, integration, operations, and maintenance for a family of Department of Defense (DoD) adopted commercially standardized networking solutions that are interoperable with Air Force, Joint, and DoD Standardized Networking Technical Architectures.