- The ceiling rises from $98.5 million to $154.5 million
- The modification supports the Operation Cattle Drive mandate
- The help desk consolidation deadline is Oct. 1, 2027
General Dynamics Information Technology has been awarded a contract modification that increases the ceiling of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract by $56 million, from $98.5 million to $154.5 million, the Department of War said.
The modification supports the Secretary of the Navy’s mandate, referred to as Operation Cattle Drive, to consolidate all legacy help desks into the Navy Enterprise Service Desk, or NESD, by Oct. 1, 2027. Work will continue in Bossier City and New Orleans, Louisiana.
What Is the Naval Enterprise Service Desk?
The NESD is a centralized support center that helps sailors, Marines and civilians with technical issues around the clock, every day of the week. It is overseen by the Program Executive Office for Digital and Enterprise Services, known as PEO Digital, and serves as the Department of the Navy’s enterprise solution for service desk capabilities.
NESD offers a self-service portal and several channels for submitting trouble tickets. The Navy says it brings improved user experiences, cost savings and operational efficiencies. It was funded in fiscal year 2025 to provide core services for customers in Budget Submitting Offices.
Demand for IT service desk support is growing across Navy and Marine Corps commands, and NESD’s scalable design allows it to onboard all afloat and ashore commands. Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer Jane Rathbun, a two-time Wash100 Award winner, said, “Enterprise information technology services are critical enablers for the DON. NESD is a prime example of how we can consolidate and optimize IT services.”
As the Navy consolidates its IT help desks into one enterprise service desk, the Potomac Officers Club’s 2027 Digital Transformation Summit on April 29 will explore how government and industry are modernizing enterprise IT. Save your seat now!
How Did the Contract Begin & Where Does It Stand?
The original award was a potential $98.5 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for GDIT to continue consolidating the Navy’s IT help desks under NESD. and to expand its capabilities. The award included a one-year base ordering period and two one-year optional ordering periods, and the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command was the contracting activity.
The contract is now in its second year of performance under Option Year One, which runs from August 2026 through August 2027. One optional year remains. If it is exercised, the estimated cumulative value would reach $154.5 million, and performance would continue until August 2028.
The production contract follows the successful completion of GDIT’s Other Transactions Authority prototype effort, which originated in 2019, in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 4022(f). The modification announcement lists Portfolio Acquisition Executive Mission Systems in San Diego, California, as the contracting activity.
What Services Will GDIT Provide?
GDIT is the sole managed service provider for NESD and delivers Service Desk as a Service, which is intended to shift Tier-1 service desks from support that depends on staff and subject matter experts to a knowledge-based system. The service covers those users and their support systems worldwide. It includes technical troubleshooting, a self-service desk, standardized tools, reporting, and AWS managed services.
The infrastructure is hosted in AWS GovCloud at Impact Level 4, with a planned move to Impact Level 6. GDIT says the solution applies predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing to locate information, resolve incidents and predict and mitigate issues before they escalate and that it improves with each transaction.
Travis Dawson, NESD program manager at GDIT, said, “This work is so important and foundational to the Navy’s overall modernization efforts.”
