Lockheed Martin Corporation will begin mentoring two small businesses recently selected as teammates in its pursuit of a role on the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Encore II information technology services contract.

The two protege companies are Proactive Communications, Inc. of El Paso, Texas and X-EETO of Miami, Fla. Both were selected because of their experience working on DISA tasks and in the IT technical areas covered under Encore II.

Proactive Communications is a small disadvantaged, woman-owned company that currently has military contracts in satellite communications, enterprise services, IT consulting, and field support.

A veteran, minority-owned professional services firm, X-EETO specializes in Command, Control, Communications, Computer, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) architectures planning, systems engineering and operations; visual information systems; and the implementation of the DoD Information Technology Security Certification and Accreditation Process (DITSCAP) process for many organizations of the Department of Defense.

Rob Robey, business development manager for DISA programs at Lockheed Martin Information Technology, said, "As an incumbent Encore contract holder, we have learned lessons about choosing the right team, especially our small businesses. This time we have been more discerning in selecting firms that can market tasks under a DISA Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) vehicle and our new protege teammates truly understand how to be successful in the task order world. After reviewing the capabilities of more than 65 small businesses, we selected two which fit our needs over the life of the contract."

Gerald Miller, Director for DISA IT Programs for Lockheed Martin Information Technology, said, "Lockheed Martin is refocused on collaborating with our protege firms and in helping them in task order marketing, writing winning proposals, and developing expertise in information security. Our protege teammates have already been performing on DISA tasks and we are learning much from them about their flexibility in supporting changing customer needs."

Encore II is a nine-year, $12.25 billion IDIQ contracting vehicle being established by the DISA to succeed its existing Encore vehicle. Encore II is intended to support DISA enterprise information technology support services and solutions that transform the Joint commands into a single net-centric enterprise, focused on the war fighter. Encore II entails a wide range of services from information security to engineering design.

Eight companies or company teams are expected to be awarded an opportunity to compete under the vehicle for future information technology services procurements. Lockheed Martin is competing for one of the contracts DISA will establish for large companies. Encore II is expected to be announced by the end of the year. Lockheed Martin partners in the pursuit include large teammates Harris Corporation, ManTech International Corp., and Houston Associates. Several Lockheed Martin business units are combining their efforts, including: Lockheed Martin Integrated Services and Solutions (IS&S), Lockheed Martin Information Technology (LMIT), Lockheed Martin Systems Management, and Lockheed Martin Enterprise Information Services (EIS).

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2005 sales of $37.2 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin