3 Public Resources You Need to Prepare for Meeting With DOD

By Toné Mason, Senior Analyst

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

Investing time in being prepared prior to meeting with a government contact is vital — especially if you are diving into new departments and agencies within the DOD. Here are 3 top public resources at your disposal – and they are free!

1. Conferences and Industry Days

Most agencies speak at multiple conferences and industry days every year. Attending these events can give you great insights into their priorities and how to approach them.

Department of the Air Force

Department of the Army

• TechNet Augusta – AFCEA
• Ft. Belvoir Industry Days
• Army IT Day – AFCEA NOVA

Department of the Navy

• DON IT Conference (West Coast/East Coast)
• Naval IT Day – AFCEA NOVA

Department of Defense (4th Estate)

• Defense Health Information Technology Symposium (DHITS)
• FedNetworks Conference
• IC IT Day – AFCEA NOVA

Industry days provide great information, but that are just a starting point. I highly suggest also looking to your local AFCEA chapters and their upcoming and previous industry days. Often presentations from previous events are available online. Another way to monitor for new/upcoming industry days is to utilize SAM, which I mention below.

2. Federal Budget Documents

Make sure you review the federal budget documents for the department you are interested in. Each department’s budget is available on their website. For IT programs, the best places to research the budget are:

• ITdashboard.gov – Enables a detailed view of federal information technology investments
• DOD SNAP IT data (which can be found here – under public reports) – These reports provide an overview of IT and cyber activities for the fiscal year

3. Historical Spending and Upcoming Opportunities

SAM is the result of a merger of some of the most popular federal procurement websites into one – which is known for the time being as beta.SAM.gov.

SAM provides many tools, but I want to point out these 2 features:

1. The replacement for FBO, the “Contract Opportunities” resource, is the government point of entry (GPE) for new and upcoming opportunities — and sometimes industry days. It allows you to track and monitor new opportunities that align with your areas of interest.
2. The “Contract Data Reports” data bank is the replacement for FPDS and allows you to pull data on historical spending via standardized reports. Or, you can do ad hoc searches customized for a specific agency, keyword of interest or multiple combinations. For assistance in getting started with the data bank, start here.

Conclusion

There are many other resources available, but these three are great places to start. It is important to review and digest this information before you start engaging with government officials. By understanding their priorities and funding – and how technology fits into their plans, you have the basis for starting a more meaningful conversation.

The last and most powerful tip I have to suggest is that you utilize existing resources that you currently have access to through immixGroup. Our Market Intelligence team conducts market research and analysis of the public sector IT market regularly and we make it available through our blogs, webinars and one-on-one engagements with our clients. Let us know if we can help you.

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Reach out to the immixGroup Market Intelligence team to learn how you can grow your business in the public sector.