Criterion bags work for Air Force DCGS, COTS support in US

VIENNA: Criterion Systems has been awarded a task order under its Alliant Small Business contract by the Air Force Materiel Command, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) to provide sustainment and maintenance support for the Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (AF DCGS), a net-centric Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) weapon system.

As the announcement adds, Criterion, a systems integrator providing technology-enabled business solutions to government agencies, will provide IT services for Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) sustainment and specialized technical support to systems and equipment at DCGS sites both within the Continental United States (CONUS) and Outside CONUS (OCONUS). The contract has an estimated value of $19 million, if all options are exercised.

"The DCGS plays a vital role in our nation's defense by using geographically separated, networked sites to produce intelligence information - we greatly appreciate the confidence that the U.S. Air Force has in our work, as shown by this mission-critical contract award," said Promod Sharma, President and CEO of Criterion. "This contract gives Criterion a worldwide footprint and further increases our presence in the national security market."

Under the new contract, Criterion will perform on-site and deployed system administration; configuration management; and hardware, software, and network maintenance services to support COTS DCGS servers, workstations, exploitation equipment, network communications devices, and related support necessary for effective operations in a distributed operations Command, Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Systems (C4ISR) Program. The AF DCGS contract will fall under Criterion's National Security Operations line of business run by John Rutledge, who was recently hired from Booz Allen Hamilton to lead Criterion's growth in the Defense and Intelligence Community markets.

The Alliant Small Business Government wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) is a competitive multiple award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) small business contract. To date, more than $3.5 billion of contracts have been awarded under this vehicle. Criterion will be able to certify as a small business during the five-year option period of the Alliant Small Business contract, beginning February 3, 2014.