Future of ADVANA data platform unclear as Pentagon halts AI contract

WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense’s drive to modernize its data and analytics infrastructure hit another snag this week. Pentagon leaders have paused the plan to re-compete the contract for Advana, the data warehouse and analytics platform managed by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO). A special notice posted to SAM.gov on July 23 canceled the draft solicitation for the Advancing Artificial Intelligence Multiple Award Contract (AAMAC) and said the program is on hold.

ADVANA has become a mainstay tool across the Defense Department. Born in the comptroller’s office to pull data from thousands of incompatible business systems, the platform now provides decision-support analytics, visualizations, and other data-driven tools to military leaders and their partners. In 2021, Booz Allen Hamilton won a five-year, $647 million contract to expand the program. When the CDAO was launched in 2022, ADVANA was placed under its authority. Last fall, defense officials outlined plans to open ADVANA’s future to a multi-vendor IDIQ worth up to $15 billion over 10 years. A draft request for proposals went out in November to solicit industry feedback for what would have been called AAMAC. That draft has now been withdrawn.

A program on hold:

The notice halting the AAMAC solicitation comes amid heightened uncertainty over the CDAO’s direction under the new administration. Since January, the office has seen an exodus of senior leaders and technical staff, and the administration initiative is pressing for steep civilian workforce cuts. The office’s near-term vision for ADVANA and other major projects has not been laid out. Asked by DefenseScoop why the solicitation was canceled, a defense official said only that ADVANA continues to mature technically and programmatically and remains a foundational enterprise capability; the department will initiate activities in the coming months to leverage best-of-industry support.

The pause also complicates the CDAO’s effort to move away from a single-vendor model. In July 2024, senior officials told Breaking Defense they planned to replace the “walled garden” approach—run through GSA’s FedSIM with Booz Allen as prime integrator—with a multi-vendor ecosystem designed to spur competition and lower barriers to entry. They argued that Advana’s growth from a bespoke bookkeeping tool to a platform with roughly 100,000 users demanded a more open contracting vehicle. Those plans are now in limbo.

Commentary: This and other ID/IQs have been disappearing around the DOD after GSA's contraction and the dissolution of the FEDSIM office, as it was, which has since been reorganized and branded. Many across the DOD relied on Chris Hamm and his FedSIM office's PowerPoint and oral presentation on contracting methodology and GSA's acquisition authorities. There was a low risk of protest - FedSIM managed your contract - and FedSIM's status under OASIS gave them maximum flexibility as GWAC ID/IQ had met 51% of the prime workshare obligation. FedSIM became popular at DIA, and maybe most important, it was the mechanism the Theatre Commands relied on for TC-PED of ISR and OTH data. At a time when ISR orbits and data are in demand, and have been so for many years at an increasing rate, the contract vehicle is paramount and enables the capabilities. With contract and budget teams taking the early retirement buy-outs, a FedSIM staffed could have relieved the new dynamic. Instead, there's simply a shortage of budgets & contract teams who are the critical backbone to acquisition.