Our top picks for best SLED events

December 8, 2022 by Leave a comment

By Jessica Wilhelm, SLED Contracts Specialist

Marketing budgets are always tight, and we never seem to have enough funding or time to be at every event. immixGroup attended 8 major SLED conferences in 2022 and we identified 3 major themes we wanted to share with you to help you plan and prioritize your 2023 conference selections.

Best value for your wallet

Beyond the Beltway, centrally located in Tysons Corner, is especially appealing to the D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) SLED customer base.  It’s a must-attend conference for sales reps and market intelligence analysts. A booth presence is affordable, providing logo recognition and networking opportunities with DMV customers.

Texas DIR Information Security Forum is cost-friendly, offering great value for your dollars! The Platinum sponsorship includes a 10×20 booth and a speaking session. Besides being well-organized, the sessions are packed with relevant content and a lead list is provided at the close of the conference.

Most informational

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Follow the Fed – SLED money trail

December 1, 2022 by Leave a comment

By Lisa Kilgore, Contracts Specialist, State, Local and Education

Federal funding and SLED procurement do not exist in a vacuum; instead, they are intertwined and could be seen as two sides of the same coin. The connection between federal and state institutions is symbiotic, dating back to the founding of the nation. There are many instances of federal initiatives spurring growth at the most local level. The post-pandemic world has led to a shift in how our nation views federal initiatives and top-down funding. Understanding the connection between federal and SLED procurement is imperative for lasting success in the public procurement field.

Basics of our governance structure
Let’s bring it back to the fundamentals. Our nation operates under two sets of governance: an overarching federal government, and individual state governments. The separation between the two helps limits the consolidation of power; it allows individual states to do what is best for their citizens, to a degree, without needing federal approval. In the public procurement space, we often highlight the differences between SLED and Fed, dividing the two into distinct categories. It helps us to cater better to our customers. However, it may help to alter that thinking and look at the connections between the two.

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Four SLED contracts to build out your sales toolbox

September 8, 2022 by Leave a comment

By Jessica Wilhelm, SLED Contracts Specialist

If your company is selling IT products or services to the state, local and education (SLED) market, it is extremely important to maintain and expand the statewide contracts and cooperative agreements that form the foundation of procurement at this level.

Why build out this SLED contracts toolbox?  Simply put: Ease of use. Using a SLED contract vehicle with competitive pricing and negotiated terms and conditions equals a shorter procurement process for you!

If you’re new to the SLED space, you need to know that not all contracts are a one-size-fits-all solution. Here are a few types of SLED contracts that you should have in your toolbox. Three are SLED-specific; one allows SLED organizations to make use of federal vehicles. Here’s what you need to know.

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Big sales opportunities in lesser-known agencies: Decoding the Omnibus Bill

April 26, 2022 by Leave a comment

By Ryan Nelson, Market Intelligence Manager

The Omnibus Bill 2022 signed by the president about a month ago clocks in at nearly 2800 pages. It’s an annual free-for-all for vendors, with sales teams scouring the pages to compare appropriations to their product and service offerings.

While vendors’ typical targets are big-name agencies, there’s a strong argument to be made to dig a bit deeper below the surface, to the smaller sub-agencies. Big opportunities are often buried in small agency funding, and it’s worth having a closer read of the bill to find out just where those opportunities exist.

After all, you may be unlocking an opportunity that might not be obvious at first read, and therefore may not be as competitive as the larger agency requirements. Put enough of these smaller opportunities together, however, and suddenly you find yourself dealing with enough prospects to keep a team busy for some time.

That said, here are four interesting opportunities you might want to consider as you develop your prospect list from the newly signed budget bill:

1) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Some $38,486,000 is to remain available until expended, for Animal Health Technical Services. Similarly, $4,251,000 is to remain available for information technology infrastructure. That means even agencies that are focused on the health of wildlife, domesticated animals and farmable plants are still a lucrative target for big data, data analytics and network infrastructure components.

2) Farm Service Agency. Necessary expenses for this comparatively low-profile agency actually top $1.1 billion. Information technology represents a significant part of this funding. With programs ranging from aerial photography to financial management information, there are quite a number of opportunities in this agency alone. Most notable is the Modernize and Innovate the Delivery of Agricultural Systems (MIDAS) program. MIDAS is a web-based modernization initiative to simplify, integrate, and automate the delivery of Farm Programs across the United States.

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Seven ways to improve your sales to state CIOs

April 13, 2022 by Leave a comment

By Ryan Nelson, Market Intelligence Manager

State and local legislatures are having a good year. Flush with cash from the federal funding, most states enacted budgets with an increase in spending and revenue for FY2022. According to a recent conference of market analysts and government leaders, states project general fund spending of $1.02 trillion, a 9.3% increase compared to 2021. The education outlook is a bit more cautious, showing a trend of delayed spending of federal funding in K-12 districts. Nonetheless, there is a projected additional $3.5 billion in e-rate funds for 2022 and 2023.

During the recent conference, Jim Weaver, Secretary for Information Technology/State CIO for North Carolina was interviewed about how vendors can better position themselves and present information to decision-makers. Here are some of his top tips:

Taking all of this into account, what do vendors planning to sell into the state and local market need to know? The sales approach to state and local decision-makers is different than the federal market, and vendors should be prepared to make adjustments to their approach, to ensure a better chance of success.

1. Understand the state’s strategic plan. Every state has a strategic plan. Before you engage, know how your products and services will help them achieve their particular goals. Do not ask what an agency’s “pain points” are, or “what keeps you up at night?” You’ll find yourself being redirected back to the strategic plan.

2. States are changing the way they consume info. A crisis is an opportunity to influence change, Weaver said, and that has been true with the pandemic. What’s important now are case studies and the applicability of the study to the particular agency being courted. Messaging has to be eye-catching and visionary, but still based on what’s being done at the strategic planning level. Also, Weaver emphasized being engaged in the procurement process; vendors who aren’t already engaged in the process will most likely not get a lot of traction.

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StateRAMP is here to stay. Are you ready?

March 3, 2022 by Leave a comment

By Ceren Öney, SLED Market Intelligence Manager

Formal adoption of StateRAMP into IT procurement policies is rapidly increasing. Last year, we encouraged vendors to put StateRAMP on their radar screens. Since then, nearly 200 government members representing 33 states have joined the membership.

For service providers selling into state, local, and education institutions, now is the time to ensure that your cloud security is compliant with StateRAMP requirements.

While StateRAMP itself may still be a few years from being a household word, that doesn’t mean that state and local governments have been sitting idly by. The move toward better monitoring and certification of state, local and education network security has been going on for years, with two states at the forefront.

Arizona and Texas introduce state-specific frameworks

In September 2021, Arizona CIO J.R. Sloan announced the state will “test-drive” StateRAMP over the next year. Sloan, StateRAMP President and founding board member, had previously introduced AZRamp, Arizona’s Risk and Authorization Management Program. Arizona’s move to test StateRAMP doesn’t come as a surprise and further solidifies Sloan’s confidence in the program.

Meanwhile, effective January 1, 2022, Texas mandates state agencies to only enter or renew contracts for cloud offerings compliant with the Texas Department of Information Resources’ (DIR) own security framework, TX-RAMP.

Rising ransomware attacks targeting state and local governments, schools and colleges increased the pressure to strengthen cybersecurity postures and protect against incursions by bad actors. Coupled with the shift to digital services due to COVID-19’s disruptions and federal funding available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the American Rescue Plan Act, considerable emphasis is being placed on cyber security now more than ever.

Other states adopt the StateRAMP framework

For most states, like North Carolina and Georgia, creating a state-specific framework is too laborious and inefficient. Adopting the established StateRAMP framework makes the initial risk assessment, continuous monitoring and management more seamless and easier.

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NASCIO Survey shows three transformation areas: Digital services, cyber and people

November 18, 2021 by Leave a comment

By Chauncey Kehoe, SLED Contracts Manager

If 2020 was a roller coaster ride for state CIOs, the priority shaping their decisions now is to push forward with digital transformation.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers publishes an annual survey of state CIOs and their perspectives. The 2021 State CIO Survey reveals insights from 49 state CIOs on the “short-term and long-term impact of the pandemic.”

The overwhelming consensus amongst state CIOs is that digital services, cyber security and people are going to continue to be top priority over the next year. This marks a shift from 2020, where, understandably, the emphasis was on initiating remote working and more online services for citizen programs.

I attended this year’s NASCIO conference, and what I heard from state CIOs was consistent with the survey findings. Let’s take a look at their current and planned focus areas.

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Public Sector Basics, Part One: Know your audience

November 5, 2021 by Leave a comment

By Jimmy Baker, Public Sector Marketing Strategist

Understanding your government customers and how they gather information about technology solutions is vital for anyone involved in business development, capture efforts, marketing and selling. This blog looks at the differences between audience demographics at the federal, state and local government level, and how to address your marketing message accordingly.

First, however, I’ll let you in on a great resource. Market Connections publishes their Content Marketing Review, which is among the best surveys I’ve seen elaborating on what types of information the public sector needs to make decisions and where they go to get it.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Mari Canizales Coache from Market Connections about the study results and have had some riveting conversations. Here are some insights I’ve gleaned that should help you understand your audiences a little more.

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NASCIO Conference to address SLED technology and spending, and honors immixGroup with Longevity Award

September 2, 2021 by Leave a comment

By Chauncey Kehoe, SLED Contracts Manager

Each year, The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) selects a recipient of its five-year Corporate Membership Longevity Award. At this year’s meeting, which will be held in Seattle, Wash. from October 10-13, that award will be proudly accepted by immixGroup, Inc.

The Corporate Membership Longevity Award is a significant accomplishment for companies in the state, local and education (SLED) market, because of NASCIO’s respected standing in the industry.

NASCIO’s mission is to foster government excellence through leadership of quality business practices, information management and technology. Through NASCIO’s members-only community, immixGroup has had the opportunity to participate in discussion forums, collaborate with government and industry leaders and take away lessons learned from NASCIO events.

The most valuable benefit we have gained through our NASCIO membership is the ability to understand SLED technology needs and spending trends through committees and working groups. These groups usually consist of SLED chief information officers and industry leaders. The topics range from IT trends to post pandemic life. As participants, we are able to relay this information back to our suppliers and resellers to better prepare them for selling into the SLED space.

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The importance of data monitoring and Zero Trust in battling ransomware

May 13, 2021 by Leave a comment

By Derek Giarratana, supplier manager

Ransomware is real and security threats continue to evolve, with new ones emerging daily. At times, organizations can feel that they won’t fall victim to ransomware, but now is not the time to ignore the facts. In 2019, it was reported that ransomware attacks were up by 41 percent, and in 2020 with the pandemic at the forefront, it was predicted that an attack occurred every 11 seconds.

In addition to the sheer volume of attacks, today’s ransomware and malware are also gaining in sophistication. Using random extensions and file names, the latest threats are making detection using blocked list solutions difficult and, in many cases, completely ineffective.

Every time an attack occurs, it takes significant time and money to remediate. Recovery time takes, on average, at least 16 days, and 67% of organizations that have been hit by an attack have lost all or part of their data. This is particularly problematic for public sector organizations that are faced with strict compliance requirements such as HIPPA, GDPR, CIPA, and CJIS.

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