FAA seeks feedback from suppliers on $10 billion tech deal • The Register

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has opened a commercial information technology deal to potential bidders that includes perpetual-license hardware and software worth up to $10 billion.

The FAA warned vendors applying for the proposed SAVES (Strategic Sourcing for the Acquisition of Various Equipment and Supplies Program) contract with multiple vendors: “The anticipated contracts will NOT include non-COTS (commercial off the shelf) software even how it seems “software development” for the finished software.

SAVES contracts are designed to provide the FAA with a simplified process to get their hands on “commonly used products and services at prices associated with volume purchases” while maintaining the service quality of the purchases.

The draft explanation of the “Sources wanted” notice does not only cover aviation IT, but includes servers, switches, storage arrays and network devices, PCs, printers and more. A “transport ministry-wide strategic procurement contract” is intended to cover the entire ministry and not just the Federal Aviation Authority itself.

Contractors looking for a piece of the $5 billion to $10 billion pot to be spread over 10 years must also provide technical and professional support services to manage the assets, as well as software-as-a-service for end users. However, as the regulator has pointed out, it shouldn’t be purpose-built.

A current paper [PDF] in the Journal of Physics states that the use of COTS software in the aerospace field is becoming more common because the “cost of developing airborne software is very high and the functions implemented by airborne software are becoming more complex” – and the departments are paying attention to it to save costs. The authors say the COTS software brings convenience but can cause problems with airworthiness requirements.

The notice states that the consolidation and centralization of IT equipment under the SAVES contract focuses on eliminating redundancies, increasing efficiencies and delivering value and savings.

Contractors, the added notice said, must “apply government-supplied Microsoft Windows-based images of customers’ specific configurations to PCs” – although it has been noted elsewhere that “certain items” ship with a version of “an established operating system”. be able. and that app image loading must be either specified in the FAA IT standards or determined by the government.

Interested OEMs and resellers have until Jan. 6 to respond with their comments/recommendations, with the agency noting that it wants to gauge interest from “big” companies and “small, disabled veterans” organizations — although we do asking how many of the latter have “relevant experience with projects/programs of similar size…and complexity” worth “US$100 million or more”. ®