The U.S. Navy, already relying on of one of the world’s largest IT networks, is planning to expand its Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN) efforts with the U.S. Marine Corps into an even larger network. The Navy-Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) and the Marine Corps Enterprise Network (MCEN) together include more than 400,000 computers and 800,000 users at 2,500 locations.
The Next Generation Enterprise Re-compete (NGEN-R) contract will continue to support the large number of users who are largely within the continental U.S., but will also expand to a greater number of users outside the U.S. The NGEN contract has a period of performance end date of June 27, 2018, requiring the installation of a replacement contract for network management.
Until now, the Navy has worked with a private contractor on the management of its IT network. With the NGEN-R contract to be issued, the Navy will assume a management role in the combined Navy and Marines network established by the NGEN-R contract.
The creation of the IT network will also be broken down into two contracts—essentially one for hardware and one for network services, including software development and software integration. Within the Navy, the Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems is responsible for the NGEN-R contract and program. It has already held a number of industry days and many meetings with industry in an attempt to improve the existing NGEN approach.
