The General Services Administration announced Thursday that it will extend the lifespan of legacy networking contracts up to three years, pushing back the deadline for agencies to move to the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract.
“Over the last several months, GSA has learned of challenges our customer agencies have encountered when transitioning to EIS. To facilitate a smooth transition to EIS while still encouraging agencies to modernize, we will be offering a one-year extension with two option years on approximately 90 legacy telecommunications contracts,” GSA said in a statement.
The 15-year, $50 billion EIS contract is still the goal of GSA’s modernization effort, but legacy contracts such as the Networx and Washington Interagency Telecommunications System (WITS) will be available for up to three additional years beyond the original retirement date of May 2020.
GSA is not letting agencies off the hook when it comes to the EIS transition, however as agencies are still being asked to release their EIS solicitations by March 31, 2019.
“Agencies must continue working hard to finalize their modernization plans, budget appropriately, engage with stakeholders, including EIS suppliers, and develop thorough implementation plans that will ensure successful transition,” said Alan Thomas, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), in a blog post.