NIH sets A-76 competition for help desk

• By Mary Mosquera
• Jun 18, 2004

The Health and Human Services Department is starting a competition for IT help desk services at the department's National Institutes of Health, under the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-76 to reduce government costs.

NIH will conduct the competition through Sept. 1 and announce the results on or about Sept. 3.

The services include tier 1 and tier 2 problem resolution, help desk systems and other support services. Currently, 20 federal employees and Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego provide the services.

A competition reviews how efficiently two teams conduct specific work, said Tim Wheeles, NIH competitive-sourcing program manager. In this case, the NIH and contractor team who assemble the requirements for the IT help desk are vying with a market research team, which examines comparable private-sector contracts to determine what vendors do and what they charge.

The job could remain with the current in-house team at the same or a lower cost if the team proposed it. If the market research team is chosen, the department will put out a solicitation, Wheeles said