MiDAESS is the acronym for Missile Defense Agency Engineering and Support Services. It is a new set of contracts to provide support to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

These new contracts will consolidate, and ultimately replace, efforts currently provided by over 250 separate support contracts into a smaller number of new, multiple-award contracts.

These new contracts are anticipated to be awarded over a phased period of time, potentially beginning in early December 2009. Following award of the new contracts, the actual work will then be competed via task orders.

These new contracts will support MDA's continued transition to a matrix support organization. Therefore, the structure of the new task orders may be significantly different from the current contractor support environment. Some small tasks may be rolled into larger tasks. Some tasks will now provide horizontal support across multiple program elements within MDA. The combination of a new, lesser set of contracts and the restructuring of the support tasks creates the potential for significant change in the workforce.

That change could impact you if your company currently provides support to MDA.
If you are currently supporting an MDA program at the customer site or at a contractor site, you may be impacted as new companies are awarded contracts and then subsequently awarded tasks. Even if your current employer is part of a team winning a MiDAESS contract to provide the type of service you provide, you may still be impacted as the new task orders are competed and awarded.

Companies have teamed, submitted proposals for the contracts in August 2009, and now (while awaiting the contract award announcements) are organizing resources and preparing to bid on the new task orders to provide support in Huntsville, Alabama; the National Capital Region; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and other locations throughout the US and abroad.

What can I do to make sure I am part of the new MiDAESS Team?
First and foremost, realize that the work you do today may be done by a different company in a very short period of time. PeopleTec bid on most of the new contracts as either a prime contractor or subcontractor and, in anticipation of awards, is now soliciting resumes from incumbent and new applicants.