New Name, New Vision for DHS’ NPPD

February 25, 2016 by Leave a comment

Innovation concept, consultant in management doing presentationTom O'Keefeby Tomas O’Keefe, Consultant

The Department of Homeland Security’s National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) finally has a new name and vision: the Cyber and Infrastructure Protection Agency (CIPA). Congress still has to approve the plans before NPPD can formally roll out its new name, but DHS leadership isn’t wasting any time.

Executives are full speed ahead implementing the new vision and responsibilities for NPPD — stated in the President’s FY17 budget request. Part of this new vision includes continued expansion of the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) vehicle and making more investments in big data to support information gathered by cyber defense technologies. Read more of this post

Filed under Market Intelligence, Sales Tagged with , , , , ,

Virginia Becoming a Hot Bed for Cybersecurity

January 21, 2016 by Leave a comment

HotBed_RERachel Eckertby Rachel Eckert, Senior Analyst

It’s that time of the year when Governors make their “State-of-the-State” speeches to legislatures, outlining their priorities for the upcoming year. Virginia was no different with Governor McAuliffe identifying plans that could position Virginia as the “Silicon Valley” for cybersecurity — providing great opportunities for technology companies in the commonwealth.

Governor McAuliffe announced that Virginia won a competition among 46 other states, and was selected to be the host for the U.S. Air Force’s new Cyber Operation Squadron at Langley Air Force Base — set to be operational in 2017. This move will surely boost the economy and create more jobs in the area. Virginia is also home to the new VISA state-of-the-art cyber fusion center in Ashburn that will provide threat detection and command and control operations for VISA’s payment network. All of these support Governor McAuliffe’s goal to become a cybersecurity powerhouse. Read more of this post

Filed under Market Intelligence, Sales Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

DHS Championing Innovation in Silicon Valley

January 7, 2016 by Leave a comment

ThinkstockPhotos-465821896Tom O'Keefeby Tomas O’Keefe, Consultant

Last spring, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opened up its Silicon Valley Office (SVO) under the Directorate for Science and Technology (S&T), having high hopes of better engaging with technology innovators in Silicon Valley. DHS wants to build bridges with the startup community so that new technologies — particularly cybersecurity technologies — can be readily identified and selected to help defend public and private networks.

The office uses innovative contracting methods that speed up the acquisition process, involving Broad Agency Announcements and leveraging short-term technology contracts to get the latest and greatest tools in the hands of federal cybersecurity professionals. Read more of this post

Filed under Market Intelligence, Sales Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

The Latest Info Sharing Legislation: 3 Things IT Vendors Should Know

December 30, 2015 by Leave a comment

CyberLegistlation_LM

Lloyd McCoy Jr.by DOD Manager, Lloyd McCoy Jr.

Earlier this month President Obama enacted a $1.1 trillion spending bill, preventing a 2015 government shutdown and increasing funding for most agencies in FY16. This spending bill combines what would have been a dozen pieces of legislation funding the government, into one all-encompassing law. As is often the case, this massive spending bill came with riders — none as impactful as cyber information sharing legislation — which is based on drafts of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be at the forefront of gathering and distributing cyber threat information with industry as well as leading the establishment of information sharing organizations. Read more of this post

Filed under Market Intelligence, Sales Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Slow Week in the Office? Watch On-Demand Sessions from the Government IT Sales Summit!

December 23, 2015 by Leave a comment

by Allan Rubin, Vice President, Marketing Allan Rubin 65x85

immixGroup’s 2nd Annual Government IT Sales Summit is done, but thanks to the magic of Al Gore and Tim Berners-Lee, it lives on forever on the Web (well maybe not forever).

This year’s event attracted nearly 1,000 sales, marketing, channel, and business executives from the public sector IT community who all came with one purpose: to get real-world perspectives and actionable information that helps them increase their government sales.

Since many of you tried but failed to be in two places at once, we’ve got a treat for you:  video and audio recordings of all 19 sessions (as well as downloadable presentations) are now available on demand at immixgroup.com/summit2015.

Sessions explore everything from the newest technology developments in Big Data, Cybersecurity, and The Internet of Things to the latest government IT priorities and what they mean for technology companies that sell their products to the government. Watch the keynote address by Walter Isaacson (highly recommended), panel discussions led by government IT leaders, and the 11th Annual DOD and Civilian Budget Briefings (our most popular sessions by far)— anytime, anywhere.

If you’ve got some extra time to kill over the holidays, grab a notepad and check out some of the videos. They’ll help you start strong in January.

Filed under Channel Management, Contracting, Market Intelligence, Marketing, Sales Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Air Force Aiming to Transform IT Operations with Cybersecurity and Big Data Solutions

December 10, 2015 by 1 Comment

3D Wire PlaneStephanie Meloni_65x85by Stephanie Meloni, Senior Analyst

Air Force senior leadership came together at AFCEA NOVA’s recent Air Force IT Day to share their priorities for the near future. Two overarching themes became clear: IT related to data integration and analytics as well as cybersecurity are main focus areas for the Air Force in FY16. Additionally, the Air Force’s Task Force, Cyber Secure — established earlier this year to help the Air Force get ahead of cyber threats — has been a success story as the Air Force establishes its cyber terrain. Read more of this post

Filed under Market Intelligence, Sales Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Cyber Sprint Now a Cyber Marathon

November 3, 2015 by 1 Comment

CyberMarathon_LMLloyd McCoy Jr.by Lloyd McCoy Jr., Consultant

As a follow-up to the Cyber Sprint we saw this summer, the federal CIO, Tony Scott, and OMB just announced the Cybersecurity Strategy and Implementation Plan (CSIP) which, like its predecessor, maps out objectives and action plans for agencies — and in this case, the civilian departments — to follow. While the Cyber Sprint is aimed at achieving ‘quick wins,’ the CSIP is focused on raising baseline security practices and policies indefinitely.

The Plan is organized around the following five core objectives:

  1. Prioritized Identification and Protection of high-value assets and information;
  2. Timely Detection of and Rapid Response to cyber incidents;
  3. Rapid Recovery from incidents when they occur and accelerated adoption of lessons learned from the Sprint assessment;
  4. Recruitment and Retention of the most highly-qualified cybersecurity workforce talent the federal Government can bring to bear; and
  5. Efficient and Effective Acquisition and Deployment of existing and emerging technology

Read more of this post

Filed under Market Intelligence, Sales Tagged with , , , , ,

Internet of Things: 3 Areas of Opportunity for COTS Vendors

October 28, 2015 by Leave a comment

IoT_KSKevin Shaker_65 x 85by Kevin Shaker, Analyst, Market Intelligence

The Internet of Things (IoT) is more than just a buzzword, it’s a full-blown reality. IoT is essentially the composition of multiple electronics, sensors, software, and device endpoints that communicate with each other by exchanging data and signals. Think of the IoT as a robust network of working and moving parts that change their habits and functions based on information between sensors. The Internet of Things is transforming the way business processes are conducted from security and surveillance to telemedicine and healthcare (just to name a few). Read more of this post

Filed under Market Intelligence, Sales Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

New Funding Tied to Obama’s Smart Cities Initiative

September 22, 2015 by Leave a comment

SmartCity_TOTom O'Keefeby Tomas O’Keefe, Consultant

On September 14th, President Obama announced his Smart Cities initiative that would dedicate over $160M in federal research and development funding to technology solutions designed to help communities “reduce traffic congestion, fight crime, foster economic growth, manage the effects of a changing climate, and improve delivery of city services.”

Most of this money will fund projects at the federal level, which will then trickle down to state, local, and education municipalities. Technology companies can piggyback on these projects by identifying states and localities primed for newer technology innovations. Read more of this post

Filed under Marketing, Sales Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

30-day Cybersecurity Sprint is History – What Now? Part II

September 18, 2015 by Leave a comment

Steve Headshot 65 x 85Cybersprintby Steve Charles, Co-founder

Last week I went over FY16 spending priorities tied to the federal government’s renewed focus on cybersecurity. I mentioned while the amount available might be less than the amount in the Obama administration’s initial request, the 2016 budget request for cybersecurity is still a vital document to map fulfillment of those priorities to existing, authorized spending lines. I also want to remind you the month of October is not only the start of the new fiscal year, but is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

In my last post I also showed you OPM’s top 5 cybersecurity priorities. I think you’ll find them closely aligned with the eight priorities the White House spelled out when it launched its 30-day Sprint. Read more of this post

Filed under Marketing, Sales Tagged with , , , , ,

← Older posts

%d bloggers like this: