WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Sixteen of the 26 companies sharing a more than $12 billion government contract are based in the D.C. area.

The Defense Information Systems Agency has awarded its Encore II contract, a buying vehicle through which the Department of Defense and other federal agencies can purchase information technology services.

The contract is for five years and has a ceiling of $12.25 billion.

The Encore I contracting vehicle was popular with many agencies because it incorporated a strict set of standards to ensure new technical platforms are in synch with the military’s existing technology, according to Ray Bjorklund, an analyst with Federal Sources Inc. Those standards will continue in Encore II.

“I think it’s a credit to the program that after starting back in the mid-1990s, it has continued on,” Bjorklund said. “It’s a credit to DISA that they created a platform that’s easy to use.”

The specific Encore II contract was originally awarded in the beginning of 2007, but was protested by three companies — Computer Sciences Corp., Unisys and Northrop Grumman — that were incumbents on the old contract but lost out this time around and by new applicant IBM.

The General Service Administration ended up accepting the protest, which claimed the evaluation process wasn’t according to original objectives set out by the agency, and re-evaluated the contract. Nine D.C.-area small businesses are now recipients of Encore II, including 3H Technology of Reston and FemmeComp of Chantilly.

Seven large companies in the area also won, including CACI International and SAIC.

SAIC will be responsible for a wide range of IT services, such as network engineering and analytical support, spokeswoman Melissa Koskovich said Tuesday. The company worked on the Encore I contract as well, she added.

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com