DHS Plans November RFP For First Source Contract The Department of Homeland Security is revising its First Source contract to require specific standards for IT products. As a result, the final RFP will be delayed until mid- or late November, according to Greg Rothwell, DHS’s chief procurement officer. First Source is a multiple-award small business set-aside contract for IT commodities, estimated to be worth up to $3 billion over seven years. (SAA, 8/26) Rothwell said chief information officers in DHS agencies wanted the RFP to include more specific standards for products. The department is currently “buying everything in a thousand different ways,” he said, and the CIOs want to change that. First Source and the companion EAGLE contract for IT support services, a partial set-aside, will get first consideration for all the department’s IT procurements. Rothwell said the two contracts are nicknamed “the 90% solution,” because he anticipates they will account for that much of the department’s spending on information technology. That spending totals about $6 billion a year. He said any DHS buyer who wants to go outside those contracts will be required to present a business case and get approval from the program management office. Some exceptions may be made for follow-ons to existing contracts. “I see it as a major shift from what we’re doing today,” he added. He spoke Oct. 18 at a conference in Falls Church, VA, sponsored by the market research firm Input. The EAGLE RFP was released in September. Awards are anticipated early next year.