Inside guide to growing your public sector sales
May 9, 2017 Leave a comment
By Chris Wiedemann, consultant
Last Friday, as the rain pounded the Washington, D.C. region, my colleague, Tom O’Keefe, and I huddled in a recording studio to chat with Mark Amtower on federal IT trends for his Amtower Off-Center show.
The 45-minute segment was posted here yesterday. Here are highlights of what we think the IT industry needs to know now that there’s a budget in place for the rest of the year.
May 4, 2017 Leave a comment
By Stephanie Meloni, consultant
With lawmakers voting later this week on the $1 trillion bipartisan budget deal, the battle over funding for the remainder of FY17 may be settled fairly peacefully.
If this omnibus passes, it will largely spare civilian agencies from deep cuts in funding. It also includes some interesting features technology companies will want to take note of that will impact IT budgets and priorities.
The omnibus includes no funding for the construction of a border wall but does include $1.5 billion for border security measures, which would include infrastructure and surveillance technologies. This will create opportunities around the internet of things (IoT)—collecting, integrating, securing, storing and analyzing relevant surveillance data. Getting involved early with IoT opportunities will be important as adoption picks up down the line and will give companies with solutions a chance to cite and build upon previous successes.
March 24, 2017 Leave a comment
By Tom O’Keefe, consultant
One of the few civilian agencies that likely won’t have its budget cut is the Department of Homeland Security. What’s less clear is exactly how the funding breaks down for DHS components.
The Trump administration’s plan to direct more funds to Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement by heavily reducing the budgets of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration are likely non-starters for congressional appropriators.
However, looking at the FY17 budget amendment and the FY18 budget request, we can get an idea of where some additional technology opportunities might appear at the department. The FY17 budget amendment requests $3 billion extra for DHS, with a third of that going to CBP to begin construction of the border wall. The FY18 “skinny” budget has a few more clues for where we might see increased investment at DHS:
February 1, 2017 Leave a comment
By Lloyd McCoy Jr., DOD manager
We got a sneak peek this week into what the Trump administration is thinking about with its cybersecurity strategy and it appears there won’t be a major departure from previous administrations.
The Washington Post obtained a copy of a draft executive order on strengthening U.S. cybersecurity and capabilities that President Trump was scheduled to sign yesterday, but the event was postponed.
What I was able to glean from the draft is that it reaffirms cybersecurity as a preeminent national interest and its emergence as a new domain, comparable to air, land, sea and space. In order to protect this interest, the order endorses the “full spectrum” of capabilities to defend U.S. cyber interests, suggesting a policy that embraces both cyber-defensive and offensive toolsets.
In line with the previous two administrations, the order also emphasized protecting both public and private critical infrastructure. While none of this is a major departure, there are a couple of provisions in the draft order that impact the IT community.
January 25, 2017 Leave a comment
By Chris Wiedemann, consultant
Trying to read the tea leaves on the Trump administration’s technology priorities has been a challenge for all of us in the industry. But we got a little more clarity on how the new administration would like to manage the executive branch with a report last week outlining a new budget, including appropriations language that President Trump plans to submit in “mid to late April.”
While we haven’t seen the budget itself (and, as always, the appropriations committees will have significant input into the process), reading the Heritage Foundation report that Trump’s budget is purportedly based on reveals some potentially dramatic changes to executive agencies, particularly in the civilian sector. Those potential changes include:
October 7, 2016 1 Comment
Innovation has become more than just a buzz word in the public sector, thanks in part to a need to do more with less. Agencies are turning to transformative technologies like the Internet of Things and big data to advance missions and better serve citizens.
So who’s driving innovation in government? What agencies are cutting-edge?
September 12, 2016 Leave a comment
By Jenni Taylor, Contract Programs Manager
A significant, if not major, change is underfoot at the Department of Homeland Security’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program.
It involves “Attachment R,” which CDM contractors submit when adding a new product or capability to the program. Items are added all the time as CDM moves from phase to phase and from requirement to requirement. If the government found errors in Attachment R, the contractor was able to make corrections, resubmit, and have their capability reconsidered.
No more. DHS sent out notice last week alerting contractors that “Revised Attachment R” is being removed from the open season process. What this means is vendors will no longer be able to correct an Attachment R once it’s been submitted to DHS for review.
September 8, 2016 Leave a comment
By Tomas O’Keefe, Consultant
If you want to look for a growing area of investment in federal IT, look no further than securing the Internet of Things (IoT).
There’s been a lot of recent talk about the IoT, with one of the latest conversation led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at an August 31st workshop to help industry get a grasp on the roadmap the federal government is pursuing in the coming year. IoT leaders across federal agencies will outline strategic principles that will guide near-and-long term purchasing decisions in securing internet-connected devices.
June 2, 2016 Leave a comment
By Tomas O’Keefe, Consultant
Industry engagement seems to be the new focus at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as Luke McCormack, the chief information officer, and Soraya Correa, the chief procurement officer, have made it a point to ramp up outreach to the private sector. This summer looks to continue this trend of engagement with several activities and requests for information (RFI) that technology vendors will want to keep their eyes on.
First, the department has reached out to industry to gauge the viability of a DHS-specific contract for agile design and development. The RFI includes a draft scope of the proposed vehicle based on work done by the US Digital Services team in developing the Digital Services Playbook.
May 12, 2016 Leave a comment
By Kevin Shaker, Analyst
Federal agencies have a long history of using drones to fulfill missions, starting with the Defense Department using the technology for everything from reconnaissance to combat functions.
And then there’s plenty of civilian agency use of drones– Customs and Border Protection began using drones for surveillance at the Mexican-American border, and the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has used the technology for law enforcement and domestic protection.
The newest civilian entrant to the drone market is the Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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