10 Dos and Don’ts of SLED Procurement

December 3, 2015 by Leave a comment

DoDontsSLED_RERachel Eckertby Rachel Eckert, Senior Analyst

For IT vendors trying to sell their products to the state, local, and education (SLED) market, contracting is a major hurdle (and headache). Navigating SLED procurement requires more than just reading strategic plans and responding to RFPs. To succeed in SLED, you need to understand the purchasing process inside out, who the key decision makers are, and ultimately who has buying power.

With each state, local, and education organization being unique, the procurement process is even more complex.  During our 2nd Annual Government IT Sales Summit — exactly 2 weeks ago — four SLED procurement experts shared their top Dos and Don’ts of SLED procurement during session, This Ain’t DC: Navigating SLED Procurement Reform.

Check out this list of top 10 dos and don’ts of SLED procurement:

  1. Do – Understand the reporting relationship and organization authority flow
  2. Do – Be a business partner to your government customer
  3. Do – Ask questions upfront in the procurement process
  4. Do – Build a relationship and trust with the government customer
  5. Do – Get all stakeholders involved early

Read more of this post

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

Navigating Government’s Evolving Contractual Landscape

November 11, 2015 by Leave a comment

Contracts_TOTom O'Keefeby Tomas O’Keefe, Consultant

Government is raising the bar for competition, making management of contract vehicles more complicated through increased reporting requirements and consolidation of spend into large systems development vehicles. Competing in this environment is becoming more and more challenging for technology vendors with limited resources to balance between managing and growing their business. Identifying an optimal go-to-market strategy is critical for technology suppliers to expand their public sector footprint, but finding the best path forward isn’t always cut and dry.  With this in mind, how should technology companies proceed?

Read more of this post

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

3 Areas State & Local Agencies Are Looking to Transform IT and Healthcare Management

July 2, 2015 by Leave a comment

Choice health or money. Caduceus and dollar signs on scales.Rachel Eckertby Rachel Eckert, Senior Analyst

In this new resource-constrained environment of “doing more with less,” state and local governments must find ways to increase delivery of Health & Human Services (HHS) to citizens without a corresponding increase to their budget. As state budgets continue to recover from the crippling 2008 recession, HHS agencies – while still holding a dominating share of the budget – are being encouraged to reform their approach to IT and healthcare management.  As such, states are looking to the COTs community to help them transform IT and Healthcare Management in three core areas:
Read more of this post

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

Next-gen Supercomputing Opportunities at DOE

May 7, 2015 by Leave a comment

Tom O'KeefeTomas O’Keefe, Consultant, Market Intelligence

There’sDatacenter been quite a bit going on at the Department of Energy (DOE) in the past few months. Bob Brese left as CIO (Michael Johnson replaced him) and Deputy CIO Donald Adcock left DOE as well. The department released its first ever Quadrennial Energy Review, a blueprint for modernizing the U.S. energy infrastructure. The department’s Joint Cybersecurity Coordination Center (JC3) entered its second year of life, protecting the department’s networks and allowing for safe and secure collaboration among its research communities. DOE also announced they have more than $600M dedicated to piloting and building the next generation of supercomputers.

Read more of this post

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

Key DISA Initiatives Gaining Momentum

August 27, 2014 by 1 Comment

Lloyd McCoy_65x85by Lloyd McCoy Jr., Consultant

If you recall from our webinar on DISA given back in March, we hammered home the point that DISA is central to all the major initiatives DOD is undertaking. We centered our discussion on key pillars like cybersecurity, cloud, mobility, strategic sourcing, and enterprise system consolidation. Last week DISA held its annual Forecast to Industry Day to provide a progress report on existing activities in these areas and give updates on changes taking place in the agency. Topics of the Industry Day were largely in line with our analysis in March:

Read more of this post

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

DISA at the Center of Pentagon’s IT Modernization Plans

March 12, 2014 by Leave a comment

Lloyd McCoy_65x85by Lloyd McCoy Jr., Consultant

Despite its relatively small size within DOD, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has an outsize role in the Pentagon’s IT initiatives. When it comes to technology, DISA’s efforts are structured around four strategic goals:

  • Evolve the Joint Information Environment
  • Provide Joint Command and Control
  • Operate and Assure the Enterprise
  • Optimize Department Investments

These goals are in keeping with DISA’s role as the purveyor of command and control systems, enterprise infrastructure, and storage for the Department. DISA’s mission also places it in the unique position of be in the center of every facet of the Pentagon’s overall IT modernization goals and thus a key insertion point for the product community. DOD CIO Teri Takai’s “10-Point Plan for IT Modernization” is aimed at meeting the Department’s IT challenges and is a key facet of its overall goals of cutting waste and saving money. Several of those modernization goals with DISA’s role in them are as follows:

Read more of this post

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

%d bloggers like this: