International Business Machines Corporation

International Business Machines Corporation, operating as IBM, is a for-profit technology manufacturer and services company headquartered in Armonk, New York, that delivers mainframe hardware and software, enterprise IT infrastructure, cloud modernization, cybersecurity, and federal IT solutions as a prime contractor (99% of recent awards) across civilian and defense agencies without set-aside restrictions. IBM competes full-and-open across the federal marketplace, holding no SBA certifications, and operates at substantial scale—nearly 16,000 recent prime and sub awards worth $379.5 billion in combined potential value, with $24.5 billion obligated as of the source date.

IBM's customer concentration spans 580 distinct federal agencies. By award count, the Defense Information Systems Agency (716 awards, $853.5 million), the Department of Agriculture Forest Service (633 awards, $584 thousand), and the Social Security Administration (534 awards, $2.13 billion) lead the portfolio. By potential value, however, the picture shifts: the Internal Revenue Service dominates with $12.75 billion across 265 awards, followed by the Naval Sea Systems Command ($10.02 billion, 212 awards), the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command ($2.73 billion, 164 awards), the Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration ($2.51 billion, 188 awards), and the Social Security Administration ($2.13 billion, 534 awards). This divergence—award volume concentrated in DISA and Forest Service versus dollars concentrated in Treasury and Navy—signals that IBM anchors major enterprise IT modernization and operations programs with Navy and IRS while executing numerous smaller refresh and support tasks across civilian agencies.

IBM's vehicle footprint is dominated by schedule and IDIQ work. The Federal Supply Schedule GS35F4984H (GSA's commercial IT goods and services vehicle) carries 6,242 task orders worth $16.11 billion in combined potential value. Blanket Purchase Agreement 45318730503 (vendor database placement) shows 1,400 task orders and $8.2 million. Three large indefinite delivery contracts round out the top tier: an 788-order Defense IDC (W91QUZ07D0007, $198.5 million), a 682-order Health and Human Services IDC (HC101306D2005, $375.8 million), and an OPM Training and Management IDIQ (2007–2014, 648 orders, $254.9 million). More recently, IBM holds strategic government-wide positions: SEWP VI (NASA's new all-in-one IT GWAC, $20 billion ceiling, awarded November 2026); Alliant 3 (GSA's integrated IT services GWAC, $999.999 trillion placeholder ceiling, awarded February 2026); OASIS+ Unrestricted (GSA, $999.999 billion ceiling, awarded April 2025); and a Naval Air Systems Command IDIQ for logistics IT modernization ($249.9 million, awarded June 2026). Civilian-facing vehicles include the Foundation Cloud Hosting Services 2 (Interior, $2 billion, awarded May 2024) supporting cloud migration and hosting for Interior bureaus and government-wide partners; the IRS Enterprise Systems IBM Support (ESIS) single-award IDIQ ($999.999 million, July 2023) anchoring $12.75 billion in IRS work across mainframe infrastructure, cloud, and cybersecurity; the Defense Commissary Agency Electronic Shelf Label IDIQ ($112.5 million, October 2025) supporting retail technology at 235 military commissaries; and BPAs with the IRS for the System to Administer Retirement (STAR) program ($46.6 million, June 2024) and the FAA for PRISM/Delphi financial systems ($48.2 million, November 2023). These vehicles demonstrate IBM's role bridging civilian IT modernization (IRS, Interior, GSA), defense enterprise services (Navy, DoD), and mission-specific infrastructure (commissary retail technology, weather systems).

Activity has softened year-over-year: 86 awards in 2022, 87 in 2023, 94 in 2024, declining to 54 in 2025 and 31 in 2026 (partial year). This trajectory reflects neither growth nor consistent decline but rather shifting contract structure—large strategic IDIQ and GWAC vehicles reduce the count of discrete awards while anchoring multi-billion-dollar ceilings. Fifty-seven awards (combined potential value $2.44 billion) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and face recompete exposure.

Service Contract Inventory data (covering federal service contracts above $150,000 and excluding goods, classified work, and non-federal revenue) shows SCI-reportable prime invoicing of $2.94 billion across FY2022–FY2025: $615.6 million (FY2022), $706.4 million (FY2023), $783.2 million (FY2024), and $836.2 million (FY2025), reflecting modest year-over-year growth. IBM's federal services workforce (SCI FTE) has climbed consistently: 1,080 FTEs in FY2022 to 1,687 in FY2025, signaling deepening labor engagement on operations and modernization contracts. Median government-paid hourly rates center around $172.20 per hour, with a 10th percentile of $107.98/hr and 90th percentile of $427.63/hr, indicating senior technical and management labor for IT architecture and cybersecurity work at the upper end and data center operations at the lower end. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, an average of 19 percent of contractor hours are subcontracted; IBM has named 983 distinct subcontractors across its federal service portfolio, including firms such as Creative Global Consulting LLC (8(a), women-owned small business, recurring on IRS and other work), Carahsoft Technology Corp (software licensing and resale), Rei Systems Inc. (IT modernization), Concurrent Technologies Corporation (systems engineering), Collins Consulting, Voltican Inc. (HUBZone), and numerous staffing and specialized technical service providers.

Representative prime work spans civilian IT modernization, defense operations support, and federal IT infrastructure. Recent major awards include: a $244.2 million GSA IT Operations and Maintenance DevOps delivery order (January 2024, Alliant II, FY2024–FY2025 invoiced $33.5 million across 118.3 FTEs at escalating hourly rates); a $151.5 million E-GOV Travel Service Next Generation (ETSNext) managed services contract (November 2024, fixed price extending through 2039, FY2025 invoiced $39.2 million across 46.4 FTEs at $406.46/hr with 15% subcontract share); a $181.7 million FEMA NFIP Risk Mapping System transition and operations order (September 2023, CIO-SP3, FY2024 invoiced $64.3 million across 280 FTEs at $110.29/hr with 25% subcontract share); a $147.9 million IRS Modernized E-File supplemental operations order (June 2024, Alliant II, FY2025 invoiced $32.5 million across 91.9 FTEs at $170.22/hr with 52% subcontract share); a $135 million NOAA National Weather Service data center support order (June 2024, Alliant II, FY2025 invoiced $9.3 million across 23.4 FTEs at $154.70/hr with 88% subcontract share); a $113.3 million Naval Information Warfare Systems Command Authoritative Data Environment order (November 2023, Alliant II, FY2025 invoiced $22 million across 66.2 FTEs at $159.78/hr with 18% subcontract share); a $79.1 million GSA Order Management for Requisitions delivery order (January 2024, Alliant II); a $69.6 million Army Background Investigation Enterprise Systems modernization and cloud migration order (December 2024, ITES-3S); a $62.3 million Navy Enterprise Resource Planning Technical Support Services task order (April 2026, Seaport-NXG); and a $44.6 million Railroad Retirement Board hosted cloud-based mainframe support order (December 2025, Alliant II, FY2025 invoiced $6.2 million with 76% subcontract share, subcontractors Creative Global Consulting LLC and Viva USA Inc.). Smaller but recurring work includes HPSS hierarchical storage management product support renewals across civilian Shared Services Center locations ($59 thousand to $615 thousand per order), IRS mainframe hardware maintenance and virtual engine upgrades, Social Security Administration mainframe hardware BPA recompete orders, and FDA regulatory review support services under FDA BPAs (clinical data safety analysis, pharmaceutical quality data standards, computational science support, each $200 thousand to $5.6 million).

IBM's corporate structure reflects a single parent entity (J64CSQTQNRC1) headquartered in Armonk with a child entity in Bethesda, Maryland (VV9KH3L99VE3). The company operates as an integrated global technology enterprise with no visible federal contractor subsidiaries; federal contracts flow through the parent structure, with work performed at principal locations including Westlake, Maryland (primary services center); Lanham, Maryland (IRS support); Memphis and Martinsburg, Tennessee/West Virginia (IRS computing centers); and nationwide placement at customer facilities for operations, integration, and infrastructure work.

Teaming and subcontracting posture reflects IBM's role as a prime integrator and systems leader. On large operations and modernization programs, IBM typically performs strategic direction, architecture, and government interface work directly while subcontracting 15–88 percent of labor hours—depending on contract structure and customer preference—to specialized software providers, staffing firms, and small business partners. On products and maintenance orders (HPSS support, mainframe hardware licensing, software subscriptions), IBM self-performs or engages single-source vendors. Defense work often routes through larger primes such as Booz Allen Hamilton and Leidos where IBM provides cloud engineering, modernization, and infrastructure capabilities as a sub. Recent sub awards include work on Army DEVCOM aviation missile systems (System Software Lifecycle Engineering with Science Applications International Corporation), Navy littoral combat ship engineering (General Dynamics Mission Systems), Department of State data environment (Naval Information Warfare Systems Command prime), and DoD cyber incident response training (Mantech). Grant sub-award engagement is minimal: IBM participates as a sub-recipient on basic research and university collaborations (University of South Florida SARS-CoV-2 ecology, Pennsylvania State University Army Computing Research Alliance). IBM's federal grant portfolio appears secondary to its contract work.

IBM competes across civilian and defense at scale without set-aside leverage, positioning itself as an unrestricted prime in open federal procurement. The company's competitive advantage rests on established IDIQ and GWAC positions, proven delivery on critical enterprise IT and mainframe infrastructure, demonstrated workforce capacity (1,687 federal FTEs in SCI as of FY2025), established subcontractor relationships, and sustained customer relationships across Treasury (IRS, Bureau of Fiscal Service), Navy (warfare systems, logistics IT), civilian agencies (GSA, Interior, FEMA, FDA), and defense agencies (Army, Air Force, DoD components). Recompete exposure of $2.44 billion over the next twenty-four months presents near-term pursuits, particularly IRS ESIS renewal, Defense Commissary ESL vehicle extension, and GSA IT services GWAC recompetes. IBM's footprint is heavily order-dependent rather than small-contract-driven, making major IDIQ and GWAC vehicle holdings and task order velocity within those vehicles the decisive competitiveness signal.