DCMA RFI Offers Enterprise Opportunities

by Rick Antonucci, Analyst

The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) released an RFI for Legacy System Modernization earlier this month with a quickly approaching August 4^th response date. The RFI seeks to obtain modernization of the Mechanization of Contract Administration Services (MOCAS) system. The system, which dates back to the 1950s, is an enterprise solution that provides contract management and disbursement and management of funds. It is 65% owned by DCMA and 35% owned by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS).

Aside from the fact of an almost 60 year old legacy system still being in use (and the DCMA predicted that it would be in use for another 20-30 years), it is good to see that the DCMA is looking to finally move beyond COBOL based mainframes and into the 21^st Century. This will provide opportunities to contractors to provide a holistic, enterprise solution to modernize the MOCAS system. The COBOL based system will be replaced with a new integrated solution to provide contract management and disbursement services for the DCMA and DFAS. This will be an opportunity for contractors to show how they can help the DCMA to accomplish its mission with more efficiency and lower cost. The RFI is requesting an overview of the potential solutions with their benefits and liabilities, as well as things such as how data will be converted to the new system, timelines, and implementation.

It will be important to keep in mind the juxtaposition of the MOCAS contract with overarching DOD priorities, such as increased efficiency and reduced cost. This is especially important for MOCAS as it has been the most successful contract management system that the DOD has fielded to date, so contractors will need to make sure that they demonstrate to the customer how they plan to help DCMA continue that legacy of excellence.