DISA’s plans to migrate all combatant commands to DoDNet raise questions about whether the environment is capable of supporting their unique operational needs.
The Defense Information Systems Agency appears to be moving forward with its plans to migrate all combatant commands’ common-use IT services to the Defense Department Network, but the complexity of the effort is raising questions about whether DoDNet is the right construct to meet combatant commands’ needs.
The pace at which the agency is moving has also prompted questions about whether DISA is rushing to meet an aggressive migration timeline or seeking to establish requirements narrow enough to justify another sole-source approach.
DISA’s latest sources sought notice asked industry a series of questions about the qualifications necessary to migrate the geographic and functional combatant commands into the DoDNet architecture, including whether companies can meet the mandated Sept. 30, 2028, deadline, stand up a workforce capable of deploying globally and execute the migrations without disrupting combatant commands’ ongoing operations.
The agency gave industry just 24 hours to respond.
The first source sought notice was released on July 27 — DISA gave industry until Aug. 4 to respond. A six-day response window is typically not the market standard for allowing industry to prepare thorough, detailed responses.
A source familiar with the matter told Federal News Network DISA by now should be asking industry more detailed questions given the scale and complexity of the effort — the agency looks to migrate 11 combatant commands to DoDNet by the end of fiscal 2028, which would impact approximately 231,000 users across 200 sites worldwide. Each command has different operational requirements and technical needs, making the effort significantly more complicated than a traditional migration.
Instead, the source said, the two sources sought notices indicate the agency is moving so quickly that it calls into question whether real market research is the agency’s true intent.
The two sources sought notices come after General Dynamics Information Technology challenged the agency’s decision to add the combatant command migration work to Leidos’ $11 billion Defense Enclave Services contract.
GDIT argued that DISA failed to consider other contracting pathways that may have offered faster, less costly and more effective alternatives. Meanwhile, DISA determined that the Enclave contract was “the only viable contracting alternative.”
The bid protest was dismissed after the agency agreed to conduct new market research, make a new acquisition approach decision, develop a new acquisition plan and take any additional corrective action deemed necessary.
Is DoDNet the right construct for combatant commands?
It is also unclear whether DoDNet is prepared to support the combatant commands — whether it has the scope, features, flexibility and requirements necessary to meet the needs of the geographic and functional combatant commands.
DoDNet was created to consolidate DoD fourth estate back-office IT infrastructure. But building a common environment for back-office functions is fundamentally different from developing services capable of supporting combatant commands operating across multiple theaters.
In addition, the original DES solicitation required the contractor to support the migration and sustainment of at least 370,000 users. So far, Leidos has only migrated more than 40,000 users to DoDNet.
The source said while DoDNet is a tool that is available to DISA, a lot of questions are swirling around whether it is the right tool for combatant commands.
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email anastasia.obis@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at (301) 830-2747.
Copyright
© 2026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
