Washington Technology reports that the DHS is planning an EAGLE II take-off. According to the article, the Homeland Security Department has plans to issue a draft solicitation for its $45 billion Eagle II procurement by the end of March, with the request for proposals coming in the third quarter of fiscal 2010.

Eagle II is set to replace the first Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions contract. It will consist of two contracts – one specific to small businesses and one that’s unrestricted, according to the director of DHS’ Office of Procurement Operations. About $8 billion worth of task orders have been awarded under the original and still active Eagle program, which is used by all parts of DHS. While developing the Eagle II solicitation through two requests for information, DHS explored categorizing small businesses by type rather than via functional categories. Through the second RFI for the unrestricted part of Eagle II, DHS explored whether Eagle II needs functional categories at all and, if so, how they should be structured. Although officials have met to determine what strategy should be used, no decisions have been made on what the draft RFP will include. It hasn’t even been written yet. Officials hope Eagle II will bring greater consistency to how the contracting vehicle is used across the department and want to ensure that the contract isn’t used for procurements that would be better handled through other means. To read the original article, click here.