What the government’s latest report card really means

November 21, 2017 by 2 Comments

Chris Wiedemann

FITARA, IT modernization, report cardBy Chris Wiedemann, consultant

If the federal government were our 8th grade son or daughter, their cell phone would probably be taken away for the rest of the school year.

The government’s latest Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) report card, released earlier this month, has six agencies getting worse grades since the last report card in June, 15 staying the same and only three agencies making better grades. The U.S. Agency for International Development was the only one to earn an A.

While we’re not talking about algebra and biology here, the results show agencies falling behind in IT modernization. But it could mean an opportunity for tech companies that sell to government.

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The latest on the Social Security Administration’s IT needs

August 15, 2017 by Leave a comment

business and operations, infrastructure, social security administrationBy Kevin Shaker, senior analyst

Finding backend technology opportunities in the government has been tricky in recent years as agencies continue to push their environments toward shared services and Internet-as-a-Service.

However, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is one of the few civilian agencies that’s a viable target in the upcoming fiscal year for companies that offer infrastructure and infrastructure support technologies.

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3 types of technology to sell to USAID right now

July 18, 2017 by 1 Comment

By Kevin Shaker, senior analyst

Many in the contracting community might be worried that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is lacking sales opportunities as it continues to face budget cuts. But this could also spell opportunity as the agency looks at new ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs.

This means that in addition to utilizing shared services, USAID has been increasingly buying automation technologies and higher caliber virtualized hardware. USAID also has a slightly higher level of development, modernization and enhancement dollars compared to the rest of the civilian average of around 20 percent, which helps fund its data infrastructure. If you are aware of the current trends and drivers within the organization you may find it less daunting. Here are three of the organization’s top IT priorities:

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3 Aspects of Navigating Government Convergence

November 13, 2015 by Leave a comment

ImmixgroupGOVit-219_250x166Chris Wiedemann_65 x 85by Chris Wiedemann, Senior Analyst

As immixGroup’s 2nd Annual Government IT Sales Summit draws closer, I want to give you an inside look at the major theme of this year’s 11th Annual Civilian Budget Briefing: convergence. Whether in acquisition, management structure, or technology, the federal COTS market is positioned to come together in new ways this year.

Here are three broad trends the Market Intelligence organization will explore next Thursday, November 19th at the 2nd Annual Government IT Sales Summit: Read more of this post

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Mobility Fueling IT Infrastructure Purchases at EPA

September 3, 2015 by Leave a comment

Mobile ProductsKevin Shaker_65 x 85by Kevin Shaker, Analyst, Market Intelligence

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has both the budget and mission in place to make mobility their next big priority, creating ample opportunities for IT mobile solution providers to help them advance this initiative. The agency’s Strategic Plan outlines a need to increase mobile solutions through FY18. Additionally, the EPA’s FY16 budget request is $45M more than FY15 enacted levels, making the agency a great place to get your solution baked into their IT framework.

The EPA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) originally planned to provide all agency employees mobile access by the end of FY15, yet there is still much work to be done as indicated in the EPA’s Technology Infrastructure Modernization (TIM) Exhibit 300. TIM is the infrastructure piece of the EPA’s IT architecture. In the past TIM centered around data center consolidation, but since the data centers have been merged that are filtering into the EPA’s National Computing Center, the investment is now in virtualization and enterprise mobility. In FY16, the EPA will administer an agency-wide refresh, giving IT vendors the opportunity to sell mobile and infrastructure solutions for TIM’s IT framework. Read more of this post

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Cloud Migration Next Big Priority for DOD?

August 26, 2015 by Leave a comment

cloud computingStephanie Meloni_65x85by Stephanie Meloni, Senior Analyst

Lately we’re seeing cloud migration at DOD gain some real traction and more importantly, the IT dollars behind it are making the cloud DOD’s next big IT priority. At DISA and the Army there have been recent signs DOD may finally be taking the necessary steps to migrate data and applications to the cloud. Moving to the cloud is seen as the next critical step for the Joint Information Environment (JIE).

DISA is no longer the designated “cloud broker” for DOD, however the Department is serving as the de facto advisor for cloud computing and will still remain in charge of cloud standards and security requirements. DISA just issued a best practices document for DOD customers looking to purchase commercial cloud solutions. This document is not about DOD policy in regards to the cloud, but rather a reference guide for government customers planning to migrate to the cloud, outlining different cloud models’ features and benefits, based on lessons learned throughout the DOD. The Army’s CIO/G-6 office released the Army Commercial Cloud Services Provider Policy. This publication focuses on the Army’s process of system and application rationalization, ensuring that both are reviewed properly before moving over to Commercial Services Providers (CSPs) in the cloud. It’s important for industry to review these documents in order to understand DOD customers’ processes, as well as the challenges they face as they move to the cloud.
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The City of Brotherly Love Taking Cloud Adoption Sky High

August 20, 2015 by Leave a comment

Philly Independance Hall
Rachel Eckertby Rachel Eckert, Senior Analyst

Philadelphia’s CIO has declared the City of Brotherly Love a “cloud-first city.” Adel Ebeid, CIO for the County and City of Philadelphia, shared his vision recently in an Executive Teleconference Q&A session. Ebeid’s goal is to host 30% of his infrastructure in the cloud — primarily through SaaS delivery.

Much of Philadelphia’s infrastructure is already hosted in the cloud, so this declaration does not represent a major shift for the city. However, it does represent a forward-thinking approach Ebeid brings to Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation and Technology (OIT). And this means big opportunity for cloud solution providers in the coming years in three main areas:

  1. Continued Data Center Consolidation

Ebeid clearly stated that over the next two to three years he would like to reduce his data center footprint. During the Q&A Teleconference, Ebeid reiterates his desire to increase innovation in IT and a reduced footprint will help the County and City of Philadelphia drive efficiency through less required day-to-day management. With support from cloud vendors in areas like data migration, data storage, and data consolidation, Ebeid’s team can turn their attention to innovative projects. Read more of this post

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The Low Down on the New National Strategic Computing Initiative

August 3, 2015 by Leave a comment

Tom O'Keefe by Tomas O’Keefe, Consultant

On The Low Down on the New National Strategic Computing InitiativeJuly 29th, President Obama released a new executive order entitled: “Creating a National Strategic Computing Initiative.” This executive order seeks “to maximize benefits of high-performance computing (HPC) research, development, and deployment” for the benefit of not only federal departments but also economic competitiveness and scientific discovery in the United States. The order establishes the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI), an effort to create a cross-agency development strategy for HPC and a way to leverage budget among a multitude of agencies to further scientific success and promote exascale computing.

These are the top five objectives of the National Strategic Computing Initiative:

  1. Accelerating delivery of a capable exascale computing system
  2. Establishing a roadmap for future HPC systems
  3. Developing an enduring public-private collaboration
  4. Increasing coherence between modeling and simulation and data analytic computing technologies
  5. Addressing HPC challenges in networking technology, workflow, downward scaling, foundational algorithms and software, accessibility, and workforce development

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DISA’s Role in JIE Sparks Opportunity in IT Infrastructure

July 16, 2015 by Leave a comment

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

For more DISA’s Role in JIE Sparks Opportunity in IT Infrastructurethan 5 years the broad mission statement within government IT has remained constant: save money and time while increasing efficiency. As part of DISA’s reorganization they’re still in the process of investing in networking and infrastructure solutions that will save future IT dollars.

Here are 3 things COTS vendors need to know about DISA’s new plan and its future impact on  infrastructure purchases:

1.) Efficiency is Key in Creating an Improved JIE

Last month DISA released a 5-year IT agenda aimed at cutting costs and reworking the network infrastructure, aligning with their goal of creating a pure Joint Information Environment (JIE). The plan calls for the integration of multiple encrypted network enclaves into a hyper-converged infrastructure. This means that if you’re a vendor offering consolidation, network administration, or virtualization products, you will want to reach out to DISA IT personnel with messaging on how your product can eliminate redundancies within the Pentagon’s information system framework, the IT infrastructure backbone of DOD.
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4 Initiatives Taking a Front Row Seat in Navy’s FY16 Budget

February 5, 2015 by Leave a comment

4 Initiatives Taking a Front Row Seat in Navy’s FY16 Navy Budget
Lloyd McCoy_65x85by Lloyd McCoy Jr., Consultant

The 2016 DOD Budget Request has arrived. If passed, it would be the biggest military base budget ever. So now what?

Before you hit the ground running, it’s important to remember that this is just a request. Congress and the administration still have to hash out any differences and agree on a budget. Also, while the possibility of sequestration is weighing heavy on everyone’s mind, I anticipate it will be kicked to the curb and both parties will settle on a compromise (not far off from the requested totals).
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