The recent decision to delay the award of the Networx contracts until 2007 did not come as a great shock to companies and agencies that had been tracking the General Services Administration’s progress on the contract.

But the shift in timing — almost a year — doesn’t mean that agencies can relax their preparations for making the transition to Networx, according to telecommunications professionals from companies, agencies and consulting firms. Observers agree that the additional time means preparation can be less frantic, but not that it should be set aside for a while.

GSA now plans to award Networx Universal in March 2007 and Networx Enterprise in May 2007. The earlier target dates had been July 2006 for Universal and September 2006 for Enterprise. Networx Universal will provide a broad range of common services, while Enterprise will cover a narrower selection of more localized offerings.

“We could support the agencies in other ways during this time,” said Tony D’Agata, vice president and general manager of Sprint’s Government Services Division. “We can help them with their inventories, we can help them develop their technology road map. It’s perhaps a more organized pace than might have existed before.”

“Many of the agencies were off to a late start, and the delay will be welcome,” said Warren Suss, president of Suss Consulting. “Other agencies have been active upgrading their networks all along. For those agencies there probably won’t be much effect.”

Transition means different things to different agencies. Depending on which companies finally win the multiple-award contracts, some organizations might not switch providers. They will still have to make some changes, but their transitions will be less demanding than those agencies that change providers, whether by choice or necessity.

Take stock
The most crucial task agencies should be performing now is an inventory of their current communications services and equipment.

“The number and type of things that can be procured from the GSA [on Networx] are much more complex than in the past,” said Fred Knops, a vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton. “The closer you get to an accurate inventory, then the better it will be for transition. Services tend to disappear if you don’t have this inventory. It’s not a matter of just handing a bill to a new provider.”