DiSPIRITed: Homeland Security Scuttles IT Contract The Homeland Security Department has canceled its long awaited multiple award IT contract, known as DHS SPIRIT. The $5 billion dollar contract was planned to include set-asides for all categories of small businesses. In the announcement in FedBizOpps July 30, the Coast Guard acquisition office, which was managing the contract, said, “In support of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) enterprise approach to the procurement of information technology support services, DHS is developing a new department-wide strategy for acquisition. The Department’s decision to pursue a new strategy requires the cancellation of the U.S. Coast Guard’s planned SPIRIT procurement, which was first conceived prior to the formation of DHS. “In 2005, the Department of Homeland Security anticipates awarding many contracts for information technology support. The Department’s revised information technology support services acquisition strategy will emphasize the integration of information across all Homeland Security agencies.” In November 2002 the Coast Guard announced plans for the Coast Guard Information Technology Services Solutions (CGITSS) multiple award contract. A pair of industry days drew hundreds of responses. When the Coast Guard became part of the new Homeland Security Department in March 2003, it said GITTS would be renamed DHS SPIRIT, standing for Security, Planning and Integrated Resources for Information Technology, and would become a department-wide vehicle. But DHS’s new IT leaders soon put on the brakes as they emphasized the need to integrate systems from the department’s 22 component agencies. The contract went through 16 modifications and the RFP was repeatedly delayed. In May just days before the scheduled release of the final RFP, the Coast Guard announced that the acquisition had been “temporarily suspended” pending a reassessment. The July 30 announcement changed “suspended” to “canceled.”