FedSavvy Strategies’ new Opportunity Recompete series is exploring significant upcoming recompete contracts which may be on your radar. This helps you better prepare yourself by understanding the opportunity’s scope, who it’s serving, and potential bidders. More to come as this series develops.
First up, we are exploring the Navy Enterprise Service Desk (NESD) Service Desk as a Service (SDaaS) contract held by General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT).
What is NESD SDaaS?
In August 2021, the U.S. Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) awarded GDIT a four-year, $136 million ceiling value IDIQ to modernize and consolidate 90 existing IT help desks for the U.S. Navy. This contract began as an OTA, with 21 vendors submitting a whitepaper. Out of these vendors, only two were selected to present their solution, resulting in the Navy ultimately sole sourcing the award to GDIT. Under the Navy Enterprise Service Desk SDaaS IDIQ, GDIT is transforming the Navy’s Tier 1 service desks into a single solution to ensure 24x7x365 continuous operations for warfighters ashore and afloat worldwide.
Adding More Modern Commercial Technology
GDIT’s solution employed several corporate resources to win NESD, including:
- Technology Shared Services (TSS) Centers and talent
- Experts from the office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
- Cloud and Cyber Centers of Excellence
The company also leveraged its alliance partners from its Partner Ecosystem, including AWS, BMC, and IPSoft. This has allowed GDIT to evolve the Navy’s Tier 1 IT service desks from their status as human-centered, subject matter expert-based systems to a single knowledge-based solution. The solution is underpinned by a modernized infrastructure hosted in a secure AWS GovCloud IL4 cloud environment, with plans to move the program to an IL6 environment in the near future.
In June 2023, the U.S. Navy and GDIT announced the launch of Amelia, a conversational AI solution capable of resolving customers’ requests without the involvement of a live representative as part of the NESD program. Sailors, Marines, and civilians at sea, ashore, and around the globe can contact Amelia via phone and chat channels to receive virtual support. Amelia goes beyond a chatbot and can recognize the intent behind a request to interact with the individual requesting help by:
- Reading natural language
- Understanding context
- Applying logic
- Inferring implications
- Sensing emotions to determine the meaning behind a request
This helps users in resolving their tickets, creating a ticket, troubleshooting, and escalating issues, if necessary.
Program Successes
Over the course of this contract, the Navy has shifted from an on-premises to a secure cloud hosted environment, upgraded to a modernized IT Service Management suite and a modernized omni-channel automated call distribution, moved from a SME-based to knowledge-based program, and implanted a conversational AI solution.
This has resulted in significant technology efficiencies, including:
- 99.99 percent system availability
- 96 percent first contact resolution
- 10-minute average handling time
- 10-second average speed to answer when calling from the edge via secure cloud telephony
- 25 percent deflection to Tier 0 enabling Sailor Self-Sufficiency
- 90 percent customer satisfaction results.
Want more information on the NESD SDaaS contract’s scope? We have submitted a FOIA request for more insight into this program, so contact us for more details.
What’s Next?
The current contract expires in August 2025 and may provide an opportunity for new competition, given that this was previously sole sourced to GDIT. For instance, competitors who have a significant presence in the U.S. Navy IT enterprise and expertise in providing large-scale service desk operations may be well positioned to challenge a strong incumbent like GDIT. Note that the following is not an exhaustive list, but potential competitors include:
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- CACI
- IBM
- Leidos
- ManTech
- Peraton
- SAIC
Want to learn more about one of these potential competitors? Sign up to get our “mini-Battle Cards” for more information regarding the competition’s capabilities as it relates to the NESD SDaaS pursuit. This initial highlight of potential competitors is inspired by the FedSavvy Battle Card and it gives you a peek at major competitors or potential teammates.
This may also be a good time to brush up on your knowledge of how NAVWAR tends to evaluate their bids. This way, you’ll be better prepared in balancing your technical vs. pricing bias, assessing your own risks in this pursuit, and shaping your solution to fit known preferences for technical and management benefits.
For example, we know that NAVWAR is a value buyer and is open to award a higher-evaluated bidder at a premium but they are unwilling to pay a premium for same- or lower-rated bidders.
Want even more trends on NAVWAR evaluations? Check out FedSavvy Strategies’ FedAgency Insight to help guide your solution development, pricing strategy and messaging to enhance your scoring.
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