Coming year may be the best yet for small IT vendors working with the government WASHINGTON — The 20 largest U.S. government IT contracts likely to be awarded in fiscal year 2006 total $250 billion, and vendors still have time to bid on many of those jobs, according to a report released Monday by Input, a Virginia firm that assists private companies with federal contracts.The $250 billion compares to $184.9 billion in U.S. government IT contracts awarded in fiscal year 2004, Input said. Fiscal year 2006, which starts Oct. 1, may represent the best year ever for small IT vendors looking to do business with the U.S. government, said Megan Gamse, Input’s manager of defense opportunities.The dollar amount of IT contracts awarded by the U.S. government in fiscal year 2006 should be a “marked increase” over past years, Gamse said. Among the IT contracts scheduled to be awarded in fiscal year 2006 is a government-wide contract as part of the Alliant project administered by the U.S. General Services Administration, worth up to an estimated $50 billion over 10 years, for a wide range of IT services including biometrics, communications, distance learning, security and Web development. Input estimates that the agency will issue a request for proposals for the Alliant project contract before the end of the 2005 fiscal year.Nineteen of the top 20 FY 2006 contracts are worth at least $1.5 billion. Agencies haven’t yet put out requests for proposals in 12 of the 20 contracts on the Input list.A second Alliant government wide acquisition contract (GWAC), a 10-year contract worth up to $15 billion, is targeted at small business vendors. This contract focuses on information systems engineering and systems operations and maintenance. A second small-business vendor contract, a $5 billion, 10-year award, should be awarded by the Department of Veterans Affairs in mid-2006, Input predicted. Other contracts on the top 20 list also include set-aside portions for small vendors, Gamse said. “If the ceiling of the Alliant Small Business GWAC is met, this GWAC may represent the largest IT contract ever awarded exclusively to small business,” she said.The second largest contract on the list is for an estimated $45 billion. The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions project, or EAGLE, would provide the agency with a range of IT services. The contract would incorporate the majority of DHS IT services under one contract. DHS is expected to issue a request for proposals in September, Input said.Contracts through the U.S. Army, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice are also on the Input list. Among the contracts, with requests for proposals still not issued:— U.S. Army, $20 billion, nine-year contract, for IT enterprise solutions.— Department of Veterans Affairs, $6 billion, five-year contract, for computer hardware and software, including laptops and smart-card readers. — U.S. Army, $4 billion, one-year contract, fiber-optic cable installation at Army bases across the U.S. Technology Industry