eRA awarded two critical support contracts on September 15. IBM will begin providing systems integration services, and RNSolutions will take over operations functions. In addition, requests for quotes (RFQs) are out to vendors for user support and software design and development services. eRA expects to make these awards in October.

With its Northrop Grumman Information Technology (NGIT) software development contract about to expire on November 30, eRA decided to terminate its other IT support contracts and issue new solicitations based on current project needs. eRA has developed into a large and complex, high-profile system that requires mature processes and rigorous oversight.

When the IMPAC II project (eRA’s predecessor) began in 1994, there were two contracts, one for development and the other for Independent Validation and Verification (IV&V), and 35-40 contractor staff. By 1999, the required software applications were developed and deployed, and the project progressed to the production stage. As NIH staff moved off the legacy mainframe system and began using the new graphical interfaces on their desktops, they identified problems, demanded more functionality and better accountability. It was at this time that Dr. John McGowan stepped in as project manager. Recognizing that the project was seriously underfunded, he succeeded in obtaining a much greater share of the NIH budget. 

As the project expanded during 2000-2003, eRA solicited support services as they were needed. Contracts were awarded for analysis, architecture, outreach, help desk, data quality, integration, operations and planning; the number of contractors grew to over 200. In some cases, multiple contractors supplied the same services. Facing the upcoming expiration of the NGIT contract, eRA leadership decided to reevaluate the entire support environment and develop an acquisition structure compatible with project status and goals.

The new contract configuration consists of four categories:

Integration	1 contract for analysis, architecture & integration testing.
Operations	1 contract for system, data, & network administration.
User Support	1 contract for Helpdesk services.
Design/ Development	4-5 contracts for specific tasks.

The eRA team has made every effort to minimize the impact on services throughout the transition to the new contracts. There will be a period of overlap during which old and new contractors will work together. For example, the upcoming November 7 deployment will be conducted by the old staff with the new staff observing. Although there will be a change of vendors, eRA architecture, database environment and functionality will remain constant.               

eRA asks for your patience during the upcoming months as we move to a better contract topology. Direct questions about eRA contracts to James Cain, director of the Division of Extramural Information Systems (DEIS), at cainj@mail.nih.gov or 301-435-0920. Report problems to the Helpdesk.