3 Procurement Hotspots in DOD’s FY16 IT Budget Request

by Lloyd McCoy Jr., Consultant

The FY16 base DOD budget request of $534 billion represents a $38 billion increase over last year’s budget. When combined with overseas contingency spending, it is a notable 4% increase. While the 4% increase is certainly good news for the COTS community, take into consideration that FY16 will be the first budget year — in two years — susceptible to budgetary caps. In fact, to avoid sequestration (mandatory cuts triggered by spending exceeding the caps), DOD’s budget would have to be approximately $499 billion. Expect a Continuing Resolution (at least through December) until Congress can agree on a budget plan.

As the DOD struggles to offset fiscal limitations, IT will be seen as a game changer reflected by the Department’s investment in three core areas: Cybersecurity, Information Availability, and Operational Visibility.

1. Cybersecurity

We’ve long said that cybersecurity is relatively immune to budget cuts. This year will be no exception, regardless of upcoming budget battles. The DOD cybersecurity budget request increased over last year by more than 12%. While the majority of the spending will go towards maintaining a cyber-workforce, areas like cyber analytics, data protection and identity management will continue to be in high demand. DOD will also seek industry support for risk management and remediation tools to help mitigate damage from cyber-attacks. Expect more emphasis on improving automation in cybersecurity as well.

2. Information Availability

Information sharing and interoperability remain key attributes of the Joint Information Environment and FY16 IT investments will reflect DOD’s efforts to modernize along these lines. FY16 will be the first fiscal year under DOD’s new computing strategy, which decentralizes cloud purchases. In the coming fiscal year, the Department plans to accelerate adoption of commercial cloud services, in an effort to consolidate its data in enterprise data centers and see voice/video/data converged in the cloud.

3. Operational Visibility

Last but not least, DOD will be looking to leverage IT to extend its “eyes” both on the battlefield and in its business environment. Expect FY16 investments to focus on needs ranging from logistics and business intelligence to battle space awareness systems.

immixGroup will address all of this (and more!) in detail at the DOD FY16 Federal Budget Briefing taking place at the 2^nd Annual Government IT Sales Summit . Stephanie Meloni and I will explore key technology priorities, IT budgets, organizational landscapes, major acquisition drivers, and DOD programs to help you better align your sales strategies and marketing messages. Register by October 23 for Early Bird Savings!