Networx: A revolution on hold
By David Perera
Published on June 9, 2008
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Agencies have until the end of the fiscal year to complete the fair-opportunity process through which they choose a Networx provider. That could mean:
Writing a statement of work or objectives, subject to General Services Administration approval, and soliciting bids.
Or, if specified services are available through vendors’ contracts, using a GSA electronic pricing tool.
— Michael Hardy
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| Networx timeline |
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The whens, whats and whos of the government’s new network services contract program.
May 2005: The General Services Administration, following months of public debate and turmoil with potential vendors, releases the final Networx requests for proposals.
August 2005: After receiving more than 1,000 questions about the details of the RFPs, GSA twice extends the deadline for bids, prompting concerns that the agency might not be able to meet its goal of awarding the contracts by April 2006. The concerns would prove to be justified.
April 2006: GSA does not award the contracts as planned.
March 2007: GSA awards Networx Universal, the more expansive of the two Networx contracts, to AT&T, Qwest Communications International and Verizon. Sprint, an incumbent on the FTS 2001 program, is left out.
May 2007: GSA awards Networx Enterprise to the three Universal vendors plus Sprint and Level 3. With vendor choices established, agencies begin their transition work in earnest.
June 2007: The Homeland Security Department becomes the first agency to place an order under Networx.
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The federal Railroad Retirement Board’s name suggests a bygone era. And indeed, it is a Great Depression creation and a New Deal legacy. When the RRB was born, there was no interstate highway system. Great spinning propellers pulled airplanes across the sky. The nation needed its rail system, so taking care of the industry and its workers became a federal responsibility. And today, the board still looks after U.S. railroad workers, administering their retirement and related benefits.
There’s nothing bygone, though, about the Chicago-based agency’s plans for a new voice, data and video network. The board was one of the first agencies to place a task order with the General Services Administration’s Networx program, two sets of multiple-award contracts GSA awarded about a year ago to five network services providers.
In the long run-up to the program’s start, GSA promised agencies that Networx would be an opportunity to transform their back offices. Agencies have little practical choice but to use Networx for their telecommunications needs — GSA has a virtual monopoly on federal telecom contracts, and its old contract vehicle, FTS 2001, is expiring.
Agencies must choose to move the services they have to the new contract — often called a like-for-like transition — or use the transition for a business process transformation by rethinking their network and telecom operations from the ground up.
RRB decided to go for broke. It is using Networx to revamp its call center backbone. Soon, railroad workers will call a single toll-free number and be routed to the center with the shortest wait time. The board is also integrating its telephone-help-desk service with its toll-free number. Its network will support Multiprotocol Label Switching to manage network traffic. The agency is implementing voice over IP in each of its 53 field offices.
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