GSA more than doubled the number of contractors on Alliant this time around, presumably to avoid protests. In 2007, GSA awarded 29 Alliant contracts; last week, GSA made 59 awards.

"To avoid any kind of conflict like a protest, it may be more simple and easier to award to many more contractors than to be very narrow in your selection criteria," Bjorklund says. "It ends up adding an administrative burden to the federal government, and you're causing industry to have to put out more energy to compete for task orders. But arguably, the more players that you have, that's good for the customers because there are more to choose from and there is competition, which keeps prices in check and improves overall service."

GSA officials said the Alliant contractors will help federal agencies deploy the IT funds they receive through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"GSA is now better positioned to assist our federal customers to meet their IT requirements in a streamlined and efficient manner while meeting the administration's goals for transparency and oversight in federal contracting," said GSA Acting Administrator Paul Prouty in a statement.

The latest Alliant contract winners include IT services firms such as Computer Sciences Corp., Electronic Data Systems, Perot Systems Government Services and Unisys Corp. Management consulting firms including Accenture National Security Services, Booz Allen Hamilton and BearingPoint were selected for the megadeal, as were military contractors BAE, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Science Applications International Corp.