WT 360: The market from all angles

FAST 50: Bryce Tech's CEO shares her secrets for rapid growth Oct 30, 2024

Bryce Technology has been named to the Washington Technology Fast 50 list for four consecutive years, climbing to No. 11 in 2024.

For this episode, Bryce Tech's founder and CEO Carissa Bryce Christensen shares the secrets behind her company's rapid growth and success in the federal market.

Christensen discusses Bryce's strategic approach to building a scalable business, focusing the pipeline on the right opportunities and nurturing a company culture that empowers employees. She also tells Editor Nick Wakeman about the firm's ability to apply its expertise across both government and commercial sectors, especially in the dynamic space industry.

She also provides advice for aspiring entrepreneurs that emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, building the right partnerships, and staying true to your vision.

A roadmap for navigating the business lifecycle Oct 28, 2024

Companies can get distracted a lot when carrying out their strategy and vision, which often times leaves them vulnerable to losing market share to competitors and unexpected turns of events.

Everything starts with strategic planning and that is also where the conversation begins for this episode featuring James Calver, a partner at fractional executive services provider TechCXO and multiple-time CEO in the health care and financial services industries.

Growth-oriented mindsets are required for all companies, as Calver tells our Ross Wilkers. That also inevitably leads to acquisitions, of which Calver oversaw dozens throughout his long career and draws lessons from that he gives to other CEOs.

The differences between management and leadership are also on the agenda, as is how to incorporate uncertainty into a plan and vision.

All about fiscal year 2025’s signposts and markers Oct 21, 2024

It is not just appearances that suggest a robust government technology market, in fact there are numbers and patterns we can point to here in week number four of federal fiscal year 2025.

Where agencies are putting most of their technology budget dollars to work is the starting point for this episode featuring John Caucis and James Wichert, public sector analysts at the market intelligence firm Technology Business Research.

Caucis and Wichert take our Ross Wilkers through how companies are positioning themselves for that spend, including their organic investments and acquisitions that are signposts for where they want to go.

Also on their discussion agenda: how some companies are looking to wear both the integration and consulting hats, the future of Peraton with a new CEO in place and realities of the artificial intelligence landscape.

CHIPS Act opportunities are not just for companies that make them Oct 07, 2024

Understandably so, the names of global tech giants are often at the center of the conversation surrounding how the U.S. government is putting its CHIPS Act funding to work through grants and other financial incentives.

But the Commerce Department wants many more companies to be a part of the push to restore U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.

Larry Sher, a government contracts attorney and partner at Winston & Strawn, centers the discussion for this episode around how and where the GovCon industry can get involved as well.

As Sher tells our Ross Wilkers, the nature of the chip market’s supply chain means that Commerce has to cast its net far and wide beyond just the semiconductor makers themselves. Sher also explains some of the trends he is seeing in who is getting the grants and the homework companies must do before applying for the money.

What we can gauge from Intel's $3B military chip grant

IBM awarded $576M DOD chip manufacturing contract

First CHIPS Act award signals start of U.S. semiconductor push

NIST seeks industry support for chip funding applicant checks

NIST builds infrastructure for CHIPS loan program

Defense One’s Audrey Decker on Boeing’s direction and Air Force, Space Force priorities Sep 30, 2024

Boeing’s current difficult period is well-documented and acknowledged by its new CEO Kelly Ortberg, who joined in August to lead the turnaround effort.

Audrey Decker essentially functions as Team GovExec’s Boeing correspondent in her role as Air Force and Space Force reporter for our partner publication Defense One.

For this episode, Audrey breaks down the ongoing turmoil in Boeing’s defense and space segment amid a labor strike and search for a new leader after Ted Colbert left the company on Sept. 20.

This discussion with Ross Wilkers also goes over some of these key priorities for the customers that Audrey covers: a robot wingman program, commercial imagery, space domain awareness and the B-21 bomber.

AI’s increasing adoption across GovCon operations Sep 23, 2024

Artificial intelligence is not just a technology that government contractors provide their customers, but also is becoming a bigger piece of internal operations.

Kim Koster, vice president of product marketing at Unanet, joins WT Editor Nick Wakeman for this episode to discuss how and where contractors are adopting AI in their own operations as found in the newest edition of her company's GAUGE report.

Unanet and CohnReznick work each year to release GAUGE -- Government Contract Compliance, Accounting, Utilization, Growth and Efficiencies.

In explaining the 2024 GAUGE findings, Koster shares insights on AI usage trends, maturity levels and implementation strategies. Still not on your AI journey yet? Koster has some advice on how to start that as well.

All about the human element in acquisition Sep 16, 2024

Frustration builds up when things go wrong in the world of government acquisition and that feeling is true on both sides: the customer and contractor alike.

Adam Rentschler and his partners started Valid Eval in 2011 to help agencies make better evaluations at scale. All throughout this episode, the latter two words of that sentence come up frequently in the conversation between Rentschler and our Ross Wilkers.

Rentschler’s vision is for the acquisition ecosystem to have more humanity in it and the use of data to help lead that effort.

Those concepts may seem contradictory on the surface, but Rentschler brings them together throughout the discussion.

A roadmap for keeping innovation and entrepreneurship pipelines healthy Sep 09, 2024

Many of the ingredients for creating more connective tissues between business, government and society are already in place even with so much commentary and conversation around what may be lacking on that front.

NobleReach Foundation launched in 2022 to be at the forefront of making more of those links happen. In this episode, NobleReach’s chief executive Arun Gupta describes how the nonprofit looks to do just that by taking others with them along the way.

Entrepreneurs out there who want to be part of solving big problems are both a core constituency of NobleReach and agencies that want greater access into that part of the innovation ecosystem, as Gupta explains to our Ross Wilkers.

Gupta co-authored the book “Venture Meets Mission” alongside his colleagues Gerard George and Thomas Fewer to lay out a roadmap and guiding principles for better alignment.

Defense One's Sam Skove on the drone industry's vital signs Aug 26, 2024

Next to satellite imagery, drones have been the major technological focal point for the war in Ukraine and U.S. Army leaders have been looking to learn quickly from how the systems are being used there.

Sam Skove, who covers the Army and Marine Corps for our partner publication Defense One, has seen much of this action first-hand from visits to bases in the U.S. where the drones are tested and in Eastern Europe where they are fielded.

In this episode, Sam takes our Ross Wilkers through his reporting on how the Army's desire to bring more small drones into its fold does not necessarily match up with the U.S.' industrial capacity to make them in large quantities.

The reasons for that disconnect are myriad as Sam explains, as are some of the solutions he has heard from informed observers on how to bridge that gap.

Wartime need for drones would outstrip US production. There’s a way to fix that

Army puts new unit loaded with cutting-edge tech to the test

US shouldn't learn the wrong lessons about Ukraine’s drones, expert says

What Estonian drone companies are learning from Ukraine

Across the Army, units lean into drone experimentation

Army brass opposes drone branch

FPVs, tethered drones could become formal Army programs in 2025

Dennis Kelly's blueprint for building billion-dollar GovCons Aug 19, 2024

Dennis Kelly's public sector career journey began in the Navy and has continued as a senior executive for multiple contractors, which he led through periods of growth to be acquired by larger companies.

Now as CEO of Tyto Athene, Kelly brings that experience of building and scaling multiple businesses in a dynamic market.

In this episode, Kelly describes his approach for doing that in a conversation with WT's Editor Nick Wakeman and lays out Tyto Athene's path for growth.

Kelly also provides candid reflections on his journey from Navy veteran to federal tech CEO and shows his passion for supporting critical national security missions.

Tyto Athene hires Kelly as chief executive

BlueHalo to combine with Eqlipse Technologies

CIS Secure Computing acquires intelligence community IT firm

The drivers behind KBR's 'largest to date' & 'most transformational' acquisition

PAE closes A-T Solutions acquisition

Raft's big decision and vision for the digital battlefield Aug 12, 2024

Raft's first six years of being in business are a lot like what many startups encounter, in that much of the growth has been bootstrapped and in very select corners of the market landscape it works in.

Now Raft is in a place where Shubhi Mishra, who started the software engineering company in 2018, believes there is much more greenfield in front of it. That led her to start looking for an investor in the company.

In this episode, Mishra tells our Ross Wilkers all about how she went against the advice of many other founders that told her to not go down that path and why she chose Washington Harbour Partners to back this phase of Raft's strategy.

Also on their agenda: the so-called "digital battlefield" concept and a significant paradigm shift Mishra wants to see in the prime-subcontractor relationship in the interest of advancing innovation.

NextGovFCW's David DiMolfetta on the global network outage Aug 05, 2024

Much of the world shut down on July 19 after cybersecurity company CrowdStrike distributed a faulty software update that essentially rendered 8.5 million Microsoft Windows computers useless.

David DiMolfetta, who covers cybersecurity at our partner publication NextGovFCW, led the bulk of GovExec's coverage of the aftermath even though the outage was not technically a cyber situation. But all that happened does bring up questions about network vulnerabilities and resilience.

In this episode, David tells our Ross Wilkers all about how federal agencies are working to recover and learn from an event that was truly historic in scale.

Blue screens of death were everywhere on July 19 and the entire situation was weird. As David explains, the scale of the outage is leading agencies to re-examine how they approach cyber and keeping tech assets healthy.

Summer-only sessions helped blunt CrowdStrike outage impact on US schools

Crowdstrike IT outage linked to update using new threat detection system

How the CrowdStrike outage carved out new opportunities for hackers

Biden briefed on CrowdStrike IT outage as multiple federal systems impacted

Our EIC Frank Konkel on generative AI across the intelligence community Jul 29, 2024

Generative artificial intelligence is only the newest example of how federal agencies have different comfort levels with adopting new technologies and in this instance, intelligence agencies appear to be bolder in charting their path forward.

Frank Konkel, editor-in-chief for GovExec's publications including us, wrote a deep dive article earlier this month that includes his conversations with some intelligence community leaders on where their agencies are at in Gen AI.

In this episode, Frank tells our Ross Wilkers all about what they told him and what else he found in putting together that story to explore what IC agencies are up to in Gen AI and their grander visions for the technology.

As you will hear from Frank, they want to go fast and also be thoughtful about mitigating some of the risks in doing so.

The US intelligence community is embracing generative AI

The CIA is taking a ‘crawl, walk, run’ approach to GenAI

2023 was just the start of generative AI’s rise, government and industry leaders say

Proceed with caution: Industry advises a careful approach to generative AI

3 in 4 Americans Worry AI Will Take Their Jobs

CIA Awards Secret Multibillion-Dollar Cloud Contract

Pentagon awards $9B cloud contract to Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle

NextGov/FCW's Edward Graham on generative AI across Defense, Homeland Security Jul 22, 2024

Just about every conversation about technology across the federal landscape seems to begin and end with generative artificial intelligence, a tool that spurs fears and hopes all at the same time.

Edward Graham has a front-row seat to many of those conversations in his role at our sibling publication Nextgov/FCW, where he reports on national security technologies and policies.

For this episode, Edward tells our Ross Wilkers all about the current state of play for where the Defense and Homeland Security Departments are at on their generative AI journeys.

Guardrails and pilots are more than just buzzwords for generative AI. As you will hear from Edward, they are the key words to hone in on for understanding where generative AI is today and the direction it is going in.

DOD’s generative AI task force will help set guardrails for broader use

DHS generative AI pilot embraces hiccups of emerging tech

AI can enhance border security but won’t close workforce gap, lawmakers say

DHS hires initial cohort of 10 to join its AI Corps

VA is already using AI to identify and assist veterans in crisis, officials say

KBR's Top 100 footprints extend across the globe Jul 15, 2024

Byron Bright described KBR as a "big, large science, technology and engineering company" to open a presentation for investors in May on the vision and blueprint for the entire business.

His description to Wall Street is also the starting point for this episode, where Bright explains how Company No. 17 on our 2024 Top 100 tailors that idea to U.S. government work and sheds further light on the worldwide nature of what KBR does.

The trilateral AUKUS security partnership between Australia, the U.K. and U.S. is an example of how KBR thinks globally. Today's AUKUS activity remains mostly government-to-government, but Bright believes that will open up opportunities for industry after more is figured out.

Bright also overviews KBR's work to build out a franchise space business and the technology angle to everything the company does.

The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

How we got our numbers

Our 2024 Top 100 reader's guide

Trends driving today's Top 100

Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

GovCIO's Top 100 journey from its transformative acquisition Jul 08, 2024

GovCIO's starting point for its journey in the market might as well be the acquisition of Salient CRGT in 2020 that greatly multiplied both key measurements of scale: revenue base and workforce.

Joe Cormier, both chief operating officer and chief financial officer at GovCIO, explains in this episode how the technology integrator has become what it is today as a result of that transaction. For context: GovCIO was at 500 employees when its private equity owner entered the investment and now has 3,000 on staff.

Company No. 41 on our 2024 Top 100 is now almost solely focused on organic growth, including its capture of a recompete almost four times the size of its predecessor. Cormier describes that win to our Ross Wilkers in their wide-ranging conversation that also covers how GovCIO approached the integration and is thinking about what's next for itself.

Dive into the rankings and more surrounding them by clicking the links below:

The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

How we got our numbers

Our 2024 Top 100 reader's guide

Trends driving today's Top 100

Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

Lumen's Top 100 strategy builds off its network core Jul 01, 2024

As one of the federal government's primary carriers, Lumen Technologies also takes on the mantle of layering the latest innovations on top of the core network to make it more complete and well-rounded.

Jason Schulman, national vice president of federal government sales at Lumen Technologies, explains in this episode how the company works with agencies to make that happen regardless of where they are in their innovation comfort levels.

For Company No. 38 on our 2024 Top 100, that also means looking beyond the current Enterprise Infrastructure contract vehicle as the government is already thinking about its successor. Schulman tells our Ross Wilkers all about how the work begins now on that front for carriers and agencies alike.

Dive into the rankings and more surrounding them by clicking the links below:

The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

How we got our numbers

Our 2024 Top 100 reader's guide

Trends driving today's Top 100

Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

More signposts to note from the 2024 Top 100 Jun 24, 2024

Even with this year's Top 100 rankings out for all to see, sometimes it's never too early to start looking at next year's when we have certainty over how two companies will feature on it.

For this second in a two-part episode, Nick and Ross pick up where they left off in part one by highlighting how the complex merger of Amentum with Jacobs' government services businesses will affect the 2025 ranking. This is one of several examples they highlight of how mergers and acquisitions affect the rankings every year.

Nick and Ross also highlight how just about every IT systems integrator ties their strategy to working well with global commercial tech providers. Company No. 100 on the ranking also gets the spotlight in their discussion.

Dive into the rankings and more surrounding them by clicking the links below:

The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

How we got our numbers

Our 2024 Top 100 reader's guide

Trends driving today's Top 100

Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

Our first snap judgments of the 2024 Top 100 Jun 17, 2024

Edition number 31 of the Washington Technology Top 100 rankings is now live for all to use as a resource for more than just the numbers behind the federal market's largest technology and services contractors.

This latest episode of WT 360 has Nick and Ross start their talking through the companies and numbers that feature on the ranking, but particularly what they tell us about the government market's directions.

Here is *some* of what was on their agenda for this first in a two-episode series on the Top 100:

The top quadrant's significant market share concentration
How tech implementation and consulting are becoming more intertwined
What Science Applications International Corp.'s new CEO wants the company (No. 11) to grow into

We will post the second half of the discussion next Monday morning. Same time, same place.

Dive into the rankings and more surrounding them by clicking the links below:

The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

How we got our numbers

Our 2024 Top 100 reader's guide

Trends driving today's Top 100

Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

All about Telos' post-IPO journey Jun 03, 2024

Initial public offerings in the government market are a rare event, so it was natural to focus much attention on Telos Corp.'s IPO in the fall of 2020 and where the company wanted to go next.

Telos' chief executive John Wood spoke to us shortly after the completion of that IPO and returns for this episode to provide an update on the security technology company's execution since then.

A significant aspect of Telos' journey as a public company can be characterized as a transition. As Wood describes to our Ross Wilkers, that also involves going toward a destination and not just an exit from something.

The overall security landscape for government and industry also features prominently in their discussion, both in the cyber realm and elsewhere.

PROJECT 38: Inside Telos' path to its IPO and what's next

Telos lays out plan for its year of transition

Where to now for Telos & its IPO proceeds?

Why Telos decided the time is now for its IPO

Already somewhat public, Telos' IPO further illuminates strategy

How Iron Mountain works with the world's largest data collector May 20, 2024

It is the law of the land that says federal agencies cannot simply discard any of the data they take in, no matter how much they already have and regardless of whether it is digital or physical.

Melissa Carson, vice president and general manager of Iron Mountain's government solutions business, starts out this episode with facts and figures to help quantify the volume challenge agencies have with one mind-boggling number on government forms to pay attention to.

She then tells our Ross Wilkers all about how the government, and companies like Iron Mountain, are connecting efforts to make data management easier with the overall customer experience agenda.

That work includes turning physical assets into the digital form, which is no easy feat, but becoming more so with the advent of generative artificial intelligence and other AI techniques. Having the right guardrails in place is key to making that a success though, according to Carson.

Astrion's quest to become the next great mid-tier May 13, 2024

Dave Zolet, CEO of the newly-formed Astrion, has set an aggressive goal to double its annual revenue to around $1.5 billion in three years. That’s the needed size and scale to be a formidable mid-tier player today and fill a sweet spot in the market, Zolet says in this episode.

The 2,800-employee company was created through a pair of acquisitions by private equity firm Brightstar Capital. Zolet is busy creating a new company culture that he calls the "Astrion Way" -- a blend of technical skills with deep customer knowledge and focus.

As Zolet tells our Editor Nick Wakeman, he wants Astrion to be a company that can look around the corner and see what's coming so it can bring solutions to customers that help them meet their missions faster and more efficiently.

Zolet shares the company strategy and future plans in this conversation.

This is episode three in our 2024 series on mergers and acquisitions across the government market.

BlueHalo's next steps with Eqlipse in its fold May 06, 2024

BlueHalo as the market knows it today is around four years old with a strategy centered around space, cyber, directed energy and other key tech priority areas for the U.S. military and allied forces.

Now the defense technology integrator is joining forces with another like it that has the same private equity owner in Arlington Capital Partners. In this episode, BlueHalo's chief executive Jonathan Moneymaker explains the decision to combine with Eqlipse Technologies and the overall demand landscape that is behind the move.

"Transforming the Future of Global Defense" is the tagline all over BlueHalo's website and other promotional materials, and one Moneymaker spoke to us about in 2021 early on in the journey. Moneymaker returns now to tell our Ross Wilkers about what that transformation looks like here in 2024 and shares some first-hand anecdotes of how he has seen it.

This is episode two in our 2024 series on mergers and acquisitions across the government market.

BlueHalo to combine with Eqlipse Technologies

PROJECT 38: BlueHalo's strategy for transforming modern warfare

Private equity drives high transaction volume in 2023

2024 M&A Round Up

WT 360: All about Guidehouse's vision to be a 'next-generation consultancy'

All about Guidehouse's vision to be a 'next-generation consultancy' Apr 29, 2024

Guidehouse was owned by one of the government market's most active private equity firms in Veritas Capital until its December sale to one of the investment world's cornerstone names.

In this episode, Guidehouse's chief executive Scott McIntyre describes the blueprint laid out by the company and its new owners Bain Capital with respect to what's next and how they plan to get there.

A bulk of that can be seen in how Guidehouse has adopted this approach for itself – "Building our next-generation consultancy." McIntyre explains what that means to our Ross Wilkers, plus how consulting is now much more than just providing clients advice, and the ways Guidehouse works with customers that are regulators and among the regulated.

This is episode one in our 2024 series on mergers and acquisitions across the government market.

Private equity drives high transaction volume in 2023

2024 M&A Round Up

Guidehouse to get a more global private equity owner

Our EIC Frank Konkel on Google's government cloud and AI push Apr 22, 2024

Google's cloud environment now has license to host secret and top secret data, which is a must-have for the company in its pursuit of large opportunities at defense and intelligence agencies especially.

Frank Konkel, editor-in-chief for GovExec's publications including us, had a front-row seat to that announcement and at Google's flagship cloud conference April 9-11 in Las Vegas.

In this episode, Frank joins our Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers to explain what Google's receipt of that key security authorization means for both the tech giant itself and the larger cloud computing landscape with respect to federal.

Google had much to share at its Cloud Next conference and Frank had much to talk about with key government and industry leaders there: conversations on all things cloud and artificial intelligence that he provides a glimpse into for Nick and Ross.

Google is now authorized to host classified data in the cloud

Google Public Sector ‘hitting our stride’ in government market, CEO says

Google centers public sector strategy on alliances with integrators

Google Bets Big on Government Business with New Division

Pentagon Awards $9B Cloud Contract to Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle

CIA makes awards for intelligence community's next massive cloud contract

The NDAA is both law and a business roadmap Apr 15, 2024

Once passed and signed into law, the National Defense Authorization Act lays out the Pentagon's policy priorities and dictates how and where its appropriated funds are to be used.

The NDAA also functions as a roadmap for companies to shape their business strategies as explained in this episode featuring Luis Avila and Stephanie Smith, government contracting market analysts at RSM.

Avila and Smith take our Ross Wilkers through some key signposts of the legislation that they believe contractors should take particular note of. Procurement, the industry's pool of participants, supply chains, data rights and artificial intelligence are on the discussion agenda.

This fiscal year's NDAA comes out to around 3,100 pages, but as Avila and Smith explain: doing the homework on what is in the law helps contractors know their customer before it's time to pursue the contract.

Defense One's Lauren Williams on the Pentagon's new cyber-industrial strategy Apr 08, 2024

The Defense Department has a new industrial cybersecurity strategy in place to help contractors improve their data and network security postures with a particular focus on small businesses.

DOD's emphasis on cyber through that strategy and beyond is an ongoing storyline that Lauren Williams stays on top of for Defense One, a sibling publication of Washington Technology.

For this episode, Lauren explains the vision and goals of that new strategy in conversation with our Ross Wilkers.

Lauren also provides a snapshot of what she found in the Army Applications Lab -- a technology incubator that the service branch stood up in 2019 to grow the network of startups it works with.

The Pentagon wants to help boost cybersecurity for small contractors

Meet the Army’s tech incubator

GovCon needs to watch the push against noncompetes too Apr 01, 2024

It definitely feels like the tide is turning against noncompete agreements across the country: five states ban them outright, while many others have restrictions on when they can be enforced and on whom.

The Federal Trade Commission's effort to make these pacts illegal in the U.S. has a long runway ahead of it before becoming official, but is still a move that the government contracting ecosystem should take note of as it unfolds.

In this episode, attorneys Marlena Ewald and Grace Williams of the national security-focused law firm Fluet explain the bigger economic-wide picture of the FTC's push to ban noncompetes and then take the conversation to GovCon.

Both attorneys told our Ross Wilkers that questions about what this already means and could mean for the employer-employee relationship are starting to come up, so they provide some answers to them here. They also provide some key signposts to watch as the FTC's effort progresses.

The Proposed Nationwide Ban on Non-Competition Agreements by the Federal Trade Commission

Will the FTC Finalize a Complete Ban on Noncompetes?

Noncompete agreements explained

NextGov/FCW's Natalie Alms on modernization challenges Mar 25, 2024

The federal government has several large technology initiatives underway such as improving customer experience and leveraging artificial intelligence. Those issues are at the heart of what Natalie Alms writes about for NextGov/FCW, one of several sibling publications for Washington Technology.

She dives into those topics and more in this conversation with WT Editor Nick Wakeman.

From her perch, Natalie has a unique perspective on the challenges agencies face in trying to modernize how they provide services to citizens. She explains that while AI holds great promise to improve how the government operates, there are also many hurdles to clear.

Related articles:

IRS touts launch of Direct File pilot

White House stalls on digital identity mandate, despite billions in fraud

Experts warn that OMB’s AI guidance could slow federal adoption of the emerging tech

On the heels of Biden's executive order, agencies get White House directive on implementing AI

The CX executive order turns one

Steps to take now as you prepare for CMMC Mar 18, 2024

The final Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification rule is still months or maybe even a full year away, but the heart of rule will not change: standard 800-171 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

In this episode, Fortinet's federal chief technology officer Felipe Fernandez tells Editor Nick Wakeman that companies should focus their efforts around the standard shaping the rule regardless of how CMMC evolves.

Companies have checklists and questionnaires available to them for use before they go through a third-party assessment. For those that prepare early, there may be an opportunity to separate themselves from competitors.

Fernandez shares insights on that preparation and more as he and Wakeman dive into CMMC as it moves through the rulemaking process.

Everfox hits the street with focus on government, critical infrastructure Mar 11, 2024

Rebrandings are a constant in the government market and the company now known as Everfox is the newest example of that after its acquisition by one of the world's largest investment firms.

The cybersecurity business formerly known as Forcepoint Federal, and before that as Websense, now exclusively focuses on global government and critical infrastructure clients as a portfolio company of TPG.

In this episode, Everfox's chief executive Sean Berg goes over some of the 700-employee company's investment priorities and the overall cyber landscape's current state of play.

Everfox has two decades of history behind it and to say that cyber has changed over that timeframe would be an understatement, but the emergence of nation-state actors is one of the trends Berg explains to our Ross Wilkers.

Also on their agenda: the new name itself of course, commonalities between Everfox's government and critical infrastructure customers, how and where the company plans to grow its talent base.

LMI's logistics heritage also informs its present and future Mar 04, 2024

LMI was chartered during the Kennedy administration in 1961 as a provider of logistics management services and research to the federal government, work that remains core to the firm's vision and strategy.

That has not changed for LMI, but its change in 2022 from being a nonprofit to for-profit appears significant on the surface. In this episode, LMI's chief executive Doug Wagoner explains the rationale for making that shift and who the investors in the company are.

Of course, the conversation between Wagoner and our Ross Wilkers works its way toward what LMI plans to do with its private capital backing.

LMI now has more resources for acquisitions and support for its continued push to lead in logistics, an area that has become paramount for federal agencies in light of all that has happened to supply chains during the past three years.

M&A is not only for the biggest players Feb 26, 2024

The presence of private equity firms continues to grow in the government market because as Zach Hester says in this conversation with Editor Nick Wakeman: “It just works." Plain and simple.

Most of the largest companies in the market have used acquisitions as a catalyst for organic growth. But according to Hester, the director of merger and acquisition strategy and deal generation at Bluestone Investment Partners, there are plenty of opportunities for the small and midsized players to be active in M&A as well.

Hester says the critical element a mission focus and using that to drive your acquisition choices. Buyers can add capabilities, talent and broaden your depth. It can send a signal to customers that you can take on larger opportunities.

The volume of deals may ebb and flow from year to year, but there is little doubt that M&A has become a powerful force.

All about SMX's digital transformation thesis Feb 20, 2024

SMX can trace its history back to 1995 and that timeline includes the name Smartronix, a marker represented in the current name that seeks to balance recognizing history with continuous evolution.

Digital transformation remains the core focal point of the new SMX's strategy and a main topic of this episode featuring chief executive Peter LaMontagne, who joined in 2020 as OceanSound Partners acquired the business.

LaMontagne also shared with our Ross Wilkers his view on what private equity investors like OceanSound do for the government market's middle tier and how SMX defines digital transformation for its strategy.

As LaMontagne sees things, cloud computing is absolutely part of that but far from exclusive to it. The conversation closes with LaMontagne's perspectives on the Pentagon's National Defense Industrial Strategy and what companies should do to make it a success.

How GovCon's 'Rule of Two' is poised to grow in scope Feb 12, 2024

Multiple-award contract vehicles are where a majority of the government's buying activity seems to take place these days, but the "Rule of Two" that tells agencies how to work with small businesses did not apply there.

The White House has started to work on changing that through a Jan. 31 memo that tells agencies to use that golden rule of government contracting for multiple-award vehicles and their task order business.

What that means for small businesses is the focal point of this episode featuring Stephen Bacon, government contracts attorney at the law firm Rogers Joseph O'Donnell.

Bacon tells our Ross Wilkers all about what the memo does and doesn't do, plus what comes next for the directive to become final and how small businesses can use it as an informational tool for their customers.

These links below have more on the Rule of Two expansion memo:

Stephen Bacon on LinkedIn: OFPP Memo Small Business Participation on MACs

GovCon's 'rule of two' is about to widen in scope

CMMC lessons from the voluntary assessment program Feb 05, 2024

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification regulation may not be final for at least another year, but the Defense Department has been running a voluntary program for companies to go through a third-party assessment.

That test looks at how compliant companies are with the standards at the heart of CMMC, which will formalize how contractors should protect controlled unclassified information in their systems.

This episode features Editor Nick Wakeman's conversation with Derek Kernus, director of cybersecurity operations at professional services firm DTS, who explains how his company became compliant with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's 800-171 standard that is the basis for CMMC.

Kernus led DTS and one of its clients, IVA’AL, through DOD’s Joint Surveillance Voluntary Assessment program that measures their processes against the NIST standard.

DTS and IVA'AL got perfect scores and that will get them an automatic CMMC Level 2 certification when the rule goes into effect, probably in early 2025.

Kernus shares what they went through, what they learned and what comes next.

How the auto industry informs DMI's federal strategy Jan 29, 2024

DMI was born as a mobility solutions provider in 2002 and that remains a core component of its approach to digital transformation work with federal agencies.

But another much faster-moving sector of the economy looms large in DMI's strategy for public sector. In this episode, DMI's chief executive Rocky Thurston explains to our Ross Wilkers what the auto industry teaches the company about taking modern technology into federal environments.

Think connectivity and automation in particular when listening to Thurston describe how DMI draws lessons learned from the auto industry. DMI's overall strategy and the role of its private equity backer Oceansound Partners are also on the discussion agenda.

How emerging tech drives change across the market and more mission focus Jan 22, 2024

The rise of artificial intelligence, heightened demand for improved customer experience and the relentless pace of change are all continuing to drive the market here in 2024.

In this interview with Editor Nick Wakeman, ACT-IAC's CEO David Wennergren describes both the challenges ahead for agencies and contractors, plus the for optimism.

One key piece of advice from Wennergren stands out: There are many serious issues to resolve, but there are no excuses for individuals and companies not to get involved with each other and more importantly their government customers and with each other.

Industry also needs to put more focus on mission outcomes. Look for opportunities to make significant changes.

A look inside GovCon's crystal ball for 2024 Jan 16, 2024

Getting out the crystal ball to predict future developments is a hazardous exercise, but a first look at topics and conversations happening across the government contracting ecosystem can help in preparation.

Our first episode of 2024 serves as that initial glimpse into what is important for the government market in this new year with the insights from Stephanie Smith, GovCon industry senior analyst and valuation services director at the global professional services firm RSM.

Smith told our Ross Wilkers that she and her colleagues at RSM are fielding many questions from clients about the evolving interest rate environment, which touches every aspect of the economy and certainly something GovCon has to take note of.

They also go over investment activity among non-traditional financing sources and the business opportunities for contractors in these three buckets: the industrial base's new CMMC cyber standard, the government's push to go green and defense on the global stage.

The drivers of M&A in 2023 and what lies ahead Dec 18, 2023

We live in a world where there are challenges on multiple fronts – the war in Ukraine, China and a continuing terrorist threat. Those challenges drive federal budgets and defense spending, which in turn set the tone for mergers and acquisitions.

This episode has Jean Stack, co-lead of the investment bank Baird's defense and government services practice, join WT Editor Nick Wakeman to discuss how M&A activity can explain priorities and trends across the federal market and some subtle changes she sees taking place.

Her outlook covers what to watch for in venture capital and private equity involvement, as well as the potential for more privately-held companies going public.

An initial glimpse at 2024's GovCon budget and policy landscape Dec 13, 2023

An unusual set of circumstances looms over the entire public sector landscape with two sets of federal funding slated to run out on different dates in early 2024.

What those deadlines mean for government contractors is the starting point for this episode featuring David Berteau, CEO of the Professional Services Council, one of the main trade associations representing the GovCon industry.

A second major signpost on GovCon's roadmap for 2024 is the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, the emerging industry-wide standard for protecting information and systems. Berteau tells our Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers all about what contractors are looking for in the final version of CMMC's draft rule, whenever the Defense Department is ready to unveil it.

The agenda for this episode also includes discussion about technology trends and the National Defense Authorization Act, a key piece of policy legislation that also helps set the tone for how contractors work with their agency customers.

ASRC Federal's vision highlighted by supply chain, tech and talent Dec 06, 2023

A great amount of planning went into ASRC Federal's acquisitions of a supply chain and logistics business from Science Applications International Corp. and Broadleaf, an IT services firm. The transactions closed within two weeks of one another.

What led ASRC Federal to those two businesses and where does it want to go next? In this episode, ASRC Federal's chief executive Jennifer Felix describes the strategy and market-wide trends behind both of those moves.

In speaking with our Ross Wilkers, Felix also explains how federal agencies are working with companies like ASRC Federal to position for the future in terms of supply chain reliability and the adoption of next-generation technologies.

The pace of change across the entire federal landscape is not getting slower, but the partnership between government and industry is ramping up as Felix described it.

A roadmap to knowing the customer's buyer profile Nov 27, 2023

Price and cost will always be a factor for U.S. government agencies in deciding who to choose for a contract, but not all of them just go with the lowest-bidding company for an award.

How the government buyer goes about its purchasing is of equal importance to knowing what the customer is asking for, as explained in this episode featuring FedSavvy Strategies' founder and managing principal Brian Lindholm.

In speaking with our Ross Wilkers, Lindholm goes over the work that business development teams can do in understanding the buyer profiles of prospective customers before starting to write proposals. That pre-bid exercise also shapes business decisions on whether to compete for a certain contract or not.

All about AE Industrial Partners and its GovCon investing approach Nov 15, 2023

Aerospace, defense, government services and space represent four key focus areas for the private investment firm AE Industrial Partners and also cover practically all of the government market.

Our guest for this episode in Kirk Konert, a partner at AEI, joined the firm at around the time it started to further scale out its investments in the mid-2010s.

Konert describes to our Ross Wilkers how that approach has evolved, why AEI focuses much of its portfolio on companies that are founder-led and what the firm looks for an investment.

The discussion also includes Konert's observations on what is driving private investment activity across the entire government market landscape, plus the attributes that make for successful leadership teams at companies.

How artificial intelligence can help make better proposals Nov 08, 2023

Generative artificial intelligence is all the rage everywhere and those tools are being applied in multiple ways across the market, including in the proposal writing process.

But even with AI's promise, its effectiveness depends on the person using the tool. Which makes AI just like any other tool we have, in that it often comes down to knowing the right questions to ask.

This episode goes over many of those questions with the help of Bruce Feldman, a former senior vice president from Science Applications International Corp. who now monitors AI in his current role as a principal consultant at Lohfeld Consulting.

Feldman tells WT Editor Nick Wakeman that even with his advocacy for using AI and seeing its potential, he also will warn of the shortcomings and risks.

All about how OTA contracts really work Oct 23, 2023

Other Transaction Authority contracts have existed for many decades as alternative means for federal agencies to quickly bring in new technologies and systems when the usual acquisition processes will just not cut it.

But the focus on speed puts artificial limits on the promise and potential of what OTAs can do when used correctly, as NSTXL’s founder and chief executive Tim Greeff tells our Ross Wilkers in this episode.

Greeff leads NSTXL in its mission to manage consortia that work with agencies when they decide to run OTA processes, many of which are being used for programs of increasing size.

How OTAs work and what agencies are using for are focal points of the conversation that also has the backdrop of near-peer competitions for new technologies, and not just of the international type.

Budget disconnects and opportunities define today's federal market landscape Oct 10, 2023

The prospect of a government shutdown is far from the only budgetary headwind that agencies and contractors alike have to navigate, but it is the one that causes more anxiety than any other.

Funding delays and protracted procurement cycles are also facts of life in the market that are the starting point for this episode featuring John Caucis and James Wichert, public sector analysts at the market intelligence firm Technology Business Research.

Caucis and Wichert take our Ross Wilkers through how in one sense the work goes on and the budget environment looks promising for contractors on the surface, but that other factors get in the way of a more ideal picture.

Also on their agenda: the competition for tech talent, merger-and-acquisition highlights, leadership transitions at some of the largest companies and what the federal market's cloud computing landscape looks like today.

RTX Ventures casts its net wide and far across an expanding tech ecosystem Sep 18, 2023

More startup tech companies and investors are looking to enter the defense industrial base, which RTX is one of the largest members of and pushing to expand through its venture capital arm.

How this blue chip aerospace-and-defense hardware giant is taking on the role of business and technology scouting hat is the focus of this episode featuring Dan Ateya, president and managing director of RTX Ventures.

The former Raytheon Co. was a player in the venture game before its merger with United Technologies to create RTX in 2020. But as Ateya explained to our Ross Wilkers, RTX formalized the venture fund as a means to link the corporation's own innovation agenda with the Defense Department's critical technology priorities.

Also on the agenda for this conversation: what happens after RTX Ventures invests in a company, why the overall innovation and investment ecosystem is growing, and Ateya's advice for how to connect with the ventures team.

For Lockheed's ventures team, its investments are merely step one Sep 05, 2023

The world's largest defense company also takes on the role of scout through its venture capital organization, which searches for technologies and businesses whose creations are of promise to customers and the industry.

But those investments are just the first step in what Lockheed Martin and those companies are looking to achieve together as explained in this episode by Chris Moran, executive director and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures.

What happens after the capital is committed from the fund? Moran tells our Ross Wilkers that the post-investment relationship has been a focus area for the ventures team with new staff on-board after the fund doubled in size one year ago.

How does the startup ecosystem that Lockheed Martin Ventures taps into really operate? Moran saw it up-close during his time as a Silicon Valley executive and leans on that experience in his answer, which also includes perspective on why more startups are entering the defense market.

All about Amentum's tech strategy and 2 key legs of it Aug 28, 2023

Amentum's identity as an engineering and technical services provider naturally places the company at the front end of many large-scale efforts by government customers to incorporate new technologies.

Where the federal government's second-largest services provider is concentrating its time and resources in technology is the focus of this episode featuring Jill Bruning -- president of Amentum's engineering science and technology group.

Bruning explains to our Ross Wilkers that much of Amentum's tech focus centers on the front end: so think of work like research, development and testing of advanced systems.

The conversation also works its way to hypersonics and counter-unmanned aerial systems, two areas that Bruning sees as being like most technologies: on an accelerated development cycle that means today's inventions can often get quickly outpaced by tomorrow's.

People are at the center of all cyber talk Aug 21, 2023

Cybersecurity started to evolve into an enabling technology area more than a decade ago, which means today it is in the core of what government technology companies do for federal agencies.

Dr. Sarbari Gupta founded Electrosoft in 2001 to focus on helping agencies with their own postures in cyber, the evolution of which she describes in this episode that also goes over what the government is asking of industry in today's cyber landscape.

Gupta explains to our Ross Wilkers how companies such as hers have carried out their own cyber practices and cultures amid the emergence of standards like CMMC as the final rule is in-the-works for that particular program.

She also shares her lessons learned along the way on growth, entrepreneurship and industry teaming as a small business founder.

Click here to watch Gupta's Ted Talk that was discussed in this episode.

IBM's blueprint for making a bigger impact across public sector Aug 07, 2023

IBM showed its prioritization of public sector and federal markets through its $1.2 billion acquisition of Octo Consulting, which closed in the spring and is the largest such transaction in the history of Big Blue's consulting business.

This episode features an update on the integration and where that combination fits into IBM's larger, global vision for itself. The guests are Susan Wedge, managing partner for the U.S. public and federal market at IBM Consulting; and Mark Johnson, vice president of technology for the U.S. federal market at IBM.

One way IBM characterizes that vision is in its push to make a bigger impact for its clients, including those in U.S. government. Wedge and Johnson explain to our Ross Wilkers what that means and how they see the combined IBM-and-Octo team contributing to Big Blue's larger strategy and vision that centers around artificial intelligence and hybrid cloud computing.

IBM ranked at spot No. 28 on our 2023 Top 100.

What 2023's economy means for GovCon Jul 26, 2023

Some truth exists in the often-repeated statement that the government market has some resilience to pressures from the global economy, but companies do still have to deal with them.

How contractors are navigating a world of inflation and higher interest rates is the launch pad of this episode featuring Ruth Ann Clark, managing director for aerospace, defense and government services at JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking; and Don Irwin, managing director and banker team leader at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

Unlike other markets, GovCon has the unique fabric of how its singular customer set buys and adopts technology and that shapes how companies position themselves to win contracts.

Clark and Irwin share with our Ross Wilkers their perspectives on how companies are deciding which tech domains to focus on, plus where the middle-tier contractor fits in today's market landscape that often looks like a barbell shape between small businesses and large multibillion-dollar corporations.

All about Empower AI's shift to solutions Jul 19, 2023

With a new majority owner and chief executive in place, Empower AI is embarking on a new approach in its push to be a leading provider of artificial intelligence tools in the federal landscape.

The path Empower AI has mapped out for itself is the focus of this episode featuring Jeff Bohling, who was named chief executive in February as the global investor KKR took majority ownership of the company.

Empower AI is starting to talk about itself more as a solutions-oriented business versus one focused on making products, a shift Bohling describes as giving the company greater focus and alignment with how agencies are looking to buy AI.

ChatGPT featured prominently in this conversation. Bohling shares with our Ross Wilkers his perspective on what that technology has done to the overall AI dialogue, and how his time as cofounder and owner of a restaurant informs him in this current role.

Deloitte's view of how tech implementation, integration and consulting go together Jul 13, 2023

Deloitte's identity as a global professional services firm means it looks to be more than just a provider of advisory support for its clients and particularly with federal agencies.

Jason Salzetti, who leads Deloitte's government and public services practice, explains in this episode how that 26,000-employee team is working with its federal clients today on navigating the increasing speeds and rates of change with technology and how they operate.

A big component of that approach means Deloitte looks to be at the intersection of implementation, integration and consulting. In speaking with our Ross Wilkers, Salzetti goes over how Deloitte does that and why he sees federal clients now thinking differently about risk when it comes to innovation.

Other topics on the agenda included how the "GPS" team will work with Deloitte's space practice, and Salzetti's perspectives on human capital macrotrends his colleagues at the Deloitte Center for Government Insights studied.

Deloitte ranked at No. 15 on our 2023 Top 100.

BAE sees teaming as foundational to its success Jul 10, 2023

BAE Systems' U.S. subsidiary has made working well with others across the government and commercial technology landscapes a core part of its strategy and story to tell as a federal systems integrator.

Peder Jungck, vice president and general manager for intelligence solutions at BAE Systems Inc.'s intelligence and security segment, knows both of those worlds well given he was chief executive of a cybersecurity company that became a government contractor in the early 2000s.

As Jungck explains in this episode, knowing the market will be disrupted and where said disruption is coming from means his business is off to a good start. Jungck and our Ross Wilkers also go over today's role of the federal integrator, data management trends across government and what the I&S business is up to in working with BAE's Fast Labs advanced research team.

BAE Systems Inc. ranked No. 24 on our 2023 Top 100.

The tech and investment threads of Noblis 'Vision 2030' Jun 14, 2023

Noblis' goal is to be at the intersections of research, science and technology for federal agencies as they think beyond just adopting "what's next."

For this episode, Noblis' chief executive Mile Corrigan explains how company No. 76 on our 2023 Top 100 is carrying out the seven-year blueprint for itself that the team calls "Vision 2030."

Vision 2030 at its core is all about aligning everything inside Noblis to those common goals, including its many teams of employees and how Noblis recruits the people for them. Corrigan describes to our Ross Wilkers how Noblis focuses on both how new hires get onboarded and the experiences prospective candidates have when applying to join the firm, including so-called "boomerang hires."

Corrigan also updates Wilkers on the continuing shift in Noblis' delivery model they went over on this podcast nearly two years ago, where the firm finds itself writing "more code than papers."

WT 360's Info Session dissects the 2023 Top 100 Jun 08, 2023

Edition number 30 of the Washington Technology Top 100 rankings is now live for all to use as a resource for more than just the numbers behind the federal market's largest technology and services contractors.

This latest episode of WT 360's Info Session series has our Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers do some talking about some of the numbers, including those that do not jump off the page. But the majority of their chat is about what the Top 100 tells us about what directions these government contractors are going in and that of the market.

One company of particular interest to everyone in the market is No. 9 Peraton, whose CEO Stu Shea sat down with Nick for an on-stage interview at WT's June 6 event to unveil the list. Nick summarizes his takeaways from that conversation, as does Ross from the perspective of an audience member.

The upcoming CEO transition at Science Applications International Corp. is on the agenda for this episode as well.

Ultra I&C's gameplan for its new private equity era Jun 01, 2023

Advent International's acquisition of Ultra Electronics in the summer of 2022 was one in a series of investments the private equity firm has made in defense and government contractors: $28 billion to be exact within the past three-and-a-half years.

For this episode, we turn the lens on the Ultra Intelligence & Communications business unit by hearing from its president Jon Rucker on how that team contributes to the larger whole that is Ultra Electronics.

Rucker is six months into this role in leading Ultra I&C, whose core product and service lines also include cybersecurity and electronic warfare. Where the business is looking to invest is a main focus of this conversation between Rucker and our Ross Wilkers, as is how Ultra balances honoring its nearly 100-year brand amid the push into new markets.

ICF's vision for its tech office goes beyond ones and zeros May 22, 2023

ICF has a new organization in place that focuses on enabling technology innovation and its connection to service delivery across all of the firm's public and private sector markets.

Joining WT 360 to take us through the team's mission and its place in ICF's overall strategy are Mark Lee and Kyle Tuberson, respectively chief technology executive and CTO at ICF.

This is merely the latest in a series of moves by ICF to place itself further at the intersection of tech implementation, advisory and consulting work for government and commercial clients.

As ICF sees things: the client demand landscape has similar themes no matter which market is of discussion. As Lee and Tuberson tell it to our Ross Wilkers: those with the job title of technologist and others more in the domain knowledge type of role all have equal importance.

All about AT&T's public sector strategy and today's 5G landscape May 18, 2023

AT&T is constantly looking for ways to bring its commercial networking and other technologies forward to government agencies.

Our guest for this episode to go over that strategy is Zee Hussain -- president of public sector, FirstNet and healthcare at AT&T. He explains how the public sector team works to align itself with the goals and vision of the corporation at-large to be a world leader in technology and connectivity.

In speaking with our Ross Wilkers, Hussain highlights both the investments AT&T has made in its core network and partnerships with other companies in the federal market to make both 5G and its augmenting capabilities a reality for agencies.

What's next for the FirstNet public safety network AT&T has been building out since 2017? Hussain answers that question as well.

Our snap reax to Jacobs' spinoff plan May 10, 2023

For this episode, Washington Technology's Ross Wilkers and Nick Wakeman give their initial reactions to Jacobs' plan to spinoff the company's government services business into an independent, publicly traded company.

Jacobs had spent the past decade building that unit and creating a $4.4 billion-annual revenue entity with close to 16,000 employees. But Jacobs now sees itself going down a different path and believes Critical Mission Solutions is better off pursuing its own goals and vision as a standalone.

All of that said: Jacobs has left the door open to different options for that business if they present themselves again, as the executive team stated to an audience of inquisitive investors.

WT 360's Info Session unpacks the government's two biggest health tech efforts May 05, 2023

A pair of big-ticket programs focused on health care for veterans, soldiers and their families is the focus of this newest WT 360 Info Session series of episodes that bring together reporters from across the GovExec media team.

FCW's executive editor Adam Mazmanian and NextGov reporter Edward Graham join our Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers to update the current situation regarding the ongoing electronic health record integration programs at the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments.

On the surface, both programs appear to be going on very different tracks. But nothing in the world of government technology at this scale we're talking about is simple.

Mazmanian and Graham explain where both departments are looking to go with their EHR programs, how they got there and the roles of the companies involved in each. The common thread between them is in how both adopting variants of Oracle Cerner's electronic health record.

Leidos is the lead contractor for DOD's EHR program with Oracle Cerner, Accenture, Henry Schein One and 35 other supporting businesses as teammates. Oracle Cerner is the prime for the VA EHR program with Leidos and Accenture included as teammates.

What are V2X's next big steps? Apr 24, 2023

Vectrus and Vertex joined forces in the summer of 2022 to form what is now V2X -- a global government services provider roughly double in size to approximately 14,000 employees.

For this episode, V2X's chief growth and client service officer Sue Deagle describes to our Ross Wilkers how the combined company is looking to build off that foundation and expand into new areas of the market.

One significant leg of the corporate strategy is converged infrastructure, which V2X defines as integrating digital offerings into large physical assets with the end goal of creating smarter buildings including many military bases.

V2X also has to be a scout for technologies and partners to make that converged infrastructure a reality. Deagle also explains how V2X thinks about technology and goes about identifying the right tools and partners for more than just an individual program.

All about Arcfield's strategy and investment thesis Apr 19, 2023

Arcfield is a company whose name is slightly more than one year old, but also touts at least six decades of history behind it through the heritage of its former parent Peraton.

How Arcfield has come to be and where it is looking to go is the focus of this episode featuring chief executive Kevin Kelly, who explains to our Ross Wilkers the systems engineering provider's overall thesis and approach with the backing of private equity firm Veritas Capital.

Peraton and Arcfield both share Veritas as their owners but with a slightly different twist. Arcfield's strategy and execution is supported by on Veritas' Vantage Fund that focuses on mid-sized companies in the government technology landscape.

Kelly describes how Arcfield identifies and decides on the right larger opportunities to pursue, plus how the company thinks about further acquisitions and his perspective on overall trends in the space and national security domains.

WT 360's Info Session: The largest Navy conference, banking, cyber, and figuring out JADC2 Apr 12, 2023

Military matters lead the agenda for this latest in WT 360's series of Info Session episodes that bring together reporters from across the GovExec media team with our own Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers.

Lauren Williams and Marcus Weisgerber of our partner publication Defense One jump in to share what they heard and wrote about at Sea-Air-Space, a Navy-focused trade show and one of a handful of the defense industry's largest conventions. The topics there represent key areas of interest for government contractors.

The group also goes over the impacts of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse and other banking sector difficulties on the industry. Also up for debate are the emerging cybersecurity rules and practices for companies and where L3Harris Technologies' acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne stands. The JADC2 networking construct also gets discussed and how the military is moving on its integration of commercial cloud computing.

Click here and go to page three to see the Defense Department's rendering of the Joint All-Domain Command-and-Control vision. It is exactly as complicated as we said it was.

BigBear's agenda for itself and the AI market Mar 22, 2023

BigBear.ai spent much of 2022 undertaking a reset and restructuring effort, all with the goal of placing itself at the forefront of artificial intelligence adoption for its government and commercial customers.

This episode covers what BigBear has done and where it wants to go as told by chief executive Mandy Long and Tony Barrett, president and general manager of the federal segment.

BigBear is 15 months into its life as a publicly traded company, while Long joined in October 2022 as CEO. Long, Barrett and other BigBear leaders have since been at work explaining to investors the company's strategy and where it sees itself in the broader AI landscape.

Also on the agenda for their interview with our Ross Wilkers: distilling fact from fiction in the world of AI, how BigBear works to keep its federal and commercial segments in sync, and how making AI a greater reality for federal agencies requires multiple companies.

How Aeyon chose its investor and where it wants to go Mar 15, 2023

Aeyon did not even call itself by that name when Sunny Singh joined the company as chief executive in the winter of 2018.

Fast forward to 2023 and what is now Aeyon is pushing to be a leading integrator of robotic process automation and other similar technologies for federal agencies.

In this episode, Singh joins the WT 360 conversation to explain why Aeyon decided to partner with the investment firm Enlightenment Capital in support of that ambition and what that backing has done for the company so far.

Singh also gives our Ross Wilkers a glimpse at how Aeyon blends its integration and consulting roles, plus what federal buyers are looking for with respect to RPA and other technologies under the umbrella of automation.

All about GSA's 'MAS-sive' contract consolidation Mar 07, 2023

One of the federal government's largest contracts for commercial products and services is in a paradox as the General Services Administration is taking it through a complex consolidation process.

Noted GSA watcher and Schedule contract specialist Courtney Fairchild returns to WT 360 to provide an update on where the consolidation is now, next steps for companies to take and why they should view their actions as a series of business decisions versus purely administrative work.

Fairchild's role as CEO of the proposal consultancy Global Services Inc. means she is continuously peppered with questions on what companies should do next in this third phase of the Multiple Award Schedule consolidation. Consider this episode a collection of "Frequently Asked Questions," which our Ross Wilkers asks Fairchild, on pitfalls to avoid.

GSA's end goal for the consolidation is simplicity for agencies and companies alike. Simplicity should also drive contractors' actions in order to make the process straightforward for GSA employees, as Fairchild told our Ross Wilkers.

For more background and context, here are two articles written by Fairchild on the consolidation:

Top Four Ways to Avoid MAS Modification Rejections in 2023

MAS Contractors: Keep These Things in Mind for 2023

WT 360's Info Session: Leidos' CEO transition and troubles with two big contracts Mar 01, 2023

Business matters lead the agenda for the latest of WT 360's Info Session episodes and in particular a chief executive transition at the government technology market's largest company.

Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers review the tenure of Leidos' retiring CEO Roger Krone that started with his initial appointment in 2014. Krone's first big move happened two years later through the merger with what was Lockheed Martin's IT services business, which laid the groundwork for what Leidos is today.

What kind of company is the incoming CEO Thomas Bell going to arrive at on May 3, and what background does he bring? Ross and Nick go over that element of the transition as well.

The WT team also attempts to get a handle on the endlessly troubled National Institutes of Health's CIO-SP4 IT contract vehicle, plus the Veterans Affairs Department's strong preference for speed regarding its T4NG2 vehicle, also for technology solutions.

The merger-and-acquisition portion of this episode goes over these transactions: IBM's acquisition of Octo, LinQuest's own run of buys and all the venture activity being driven by GovCon companies themselves.

Getting SBIR tech into the mainstream still has challenges Feb 22, 2023

This Government Accountability Office decision illustrates the challenges small businesses face when moving a technology or solution they developed during the first two phases of a Small Business Innovation Research grant to production in phase three.

WT Editor Nick Wakeman sits down with attorney Stephen Bacon to discuss what and how GAO made its ruling, plus what it means for small businesses looking to move their SBIR solutions to the next level.

Phase one and two SBIR awards are common, but a phase three award is not guaranteed. The onus is on companies to educate and convince a potential government customer about their SBIR product and how it meets that agency's needs.

Info Session: New climate reporting rule, best-in-class contracts and workforce matters Feb 13, 2023

Acquisition and procurement issues lead the agenda for this latest in WT 360's series of Info Session episodes that bring together reporters from across the GovExec media team with our own Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers.

Courtney Buble of Government Executive and Chris Riotta of FCW join to share their initial reactions to President Biden's mention of "Buy American" supply chain initiatives during his State of the Union address, and new regulations and legislation regarding climate reporting and cybersecurity compliance.

The panel also goes over the Defense Department's move to go its own way with respect to the use of best-in-class contracts that all federal agencies feel some pressure to lean on, plus the shared workforce problem across the entire public sector ecosystem highlighted by a key vacancy at the government's most senior level.

Jacobs' third wave is all about data and tech Feb 08, 2023

Jacobs was born in 1947 as a company whose mission was to help clients carry out large-scale programs and that remains its focus.

In today's landscape, that means working with the customer base on how to tie data and technology into those efforts. For this episode of WT 360, Jacobs executive John Karabias explains what he calls the current "wave three" iteration of his company's strategy.

Jacobs' vice president of strategy for its new divergent solutions operating unit takes our Ross Wilkers through the company's gameplan unveiled in the spring of 2022 and how it came together. Divergent Solutions is a key leg of that, given its mandate is to develop and roll out digital offerings across all of Jacobs' end markets in government and commercial.

All throughout the conversation, Karabias harkens back to the company's origin story and shares how he sees much of what Joseph J. Jacobs started as still shaping the firm today.

Amentum in the implementation phase of its strategy Jan 31, 2023

Amentum as the market knows it today launched in early 2022 and has since been at work making and rolling out its strategy with the help of two large acquisitions.

How and where the global government services company has focused itself is the subject of this episode, where Amentum CEO John Heller explains to our Ross Wilkers what they are up to now.

This includes the identification and pursuit of opportunities in adjacent markets to extend beyond Amentum's core. Heller shares examples of those and how fast many of them are changing, including the energy market that Amentum views as part of national security.

Macrotrends and discussion starters poised to shape 2023 Jan 18, 2023

What business and technology macrotrends are going to dominate the agendas of companies in the government market for 2023?

This episode is all about answering that question in the form of a discussion featuring our Ross Wilkers and Stephanie Smith, government contracting industry senior analyst and valuation services director at the global professional services firm RSM.

Analysts and reporters have similar jobs: take in information, find the larger narrative and context, then present their findings to the respective audiences.

Smith does that at RSM to help its government contractor clients make informed decisions on strategies. Consider this conversation between Smith and Wilkers as an exchange of notes on what they have heard across the industry regarding what is important and gaining in prominence.

Jack London's success driven by curiosity, integrity and entrepreneurship Jan 11, 2023

As the long-time executive chairman and CEO of CACI International, Jack London became a legend in the government market for his leadership and vision.

He finished his new book "Ever Vigilant" before he died in January 2021. Two years later, the book has been published.

His wife Jennifer put finishing touches on the manuscript. This episode features Editor Nick Wakeman's conversation with Jennifer about the meaning and lessons lessons from Jack's life and career when it comes to curiosity, persistence, vision and entrepreneurship.

"Ever Vigilant" is a business book, but is also a personal memoir featuring stories about Jack's childhood and family. He also explains some decisions he had to make during his career.

All about ICF's physical and strategic moves Jan 09, 2023

ICF sees its move to a new corporate headquarters in Reston, Virginia after nearly three decades at its former hub in Fairfax as helping tell the larger story of the company's evolution.

Chairman and CEO John Wasson has a unique vantage point given his career at ICF coincides with its time at the Fairfax headquarters campus.

That relocation is the launchpad for our Ross Wilkers' interview with Wasson in this episode of WT 360, which also goes over how ICF has added technology implementation to its offerings on top of the company's longstanding work in an advisory role at federal agencies.

The overall direction of federal technology and infrastructure spending was also a focal point of this discussion.

The Info Session picks up where 2022 ended and starts on 2023 Jan 04, 2023

Episode number one for 2023 means the covers are off regarding a new name for our podcast, but with the same kinds of conversations as they have always been.

What is now WT 360 remains all about the business of government contracting and all about the technologies involved in it, from the perspectives of leaders across the public sector ecosystem and others who observe the happenings.

This premiere episode also introduces a new regular feature called the Info Session that brings together our reporters and others across our GovExec partner publications Defense One, FCW, Government Executive and Nextgov.

WT's own Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers, Frank Konkel of Nextgov and Carten Cordell of FCW go over the storylines they are watching in 2023 and reflect on the Defense Department (finally) awarding its big-ticket commercial cloud contract back in December.

For more on the mission of WT 360, click here to read Nick's article that introduces the new name and the kinds of conversations we look to steer through our podcast.

(NOTE: When we recorded this episode, no one had received enough votes to be the next Speaker of the House. Who knows when anyone will get the votes, we sure don't.)

A review of GovCon's 2022 and preview of its 2023 Dec 20, 2022

Few observers in the federal market have the vantage point that David Berteau has in his role as CEO of the Professional Services Council, one of the main trade associations representing government contractors. He hears about the experiences of contractors of all sizes.

Berteau joins this episode of Project 38 to wrap up 2022 that was for GovCon and look ahead to what 2023 is shaping up to be for the industry.

Inflation, cyber and supply chain priorities, COVID vaccine mandates, and the connection between contracting and policy goals made the conversation led by our Ross Wilkers and Courtney Bublé of WT's sibling publication, Government Executive. Bublé is a staff correspondent who covers government management, which includes procurement matters.

NOTE: We just so happened to have recorded this episode on the very morning that lawmakers released the text for an omnibus bill to fund federal agencies More homework for everyone involved in this discussion, it seems.

Today's data challenge is tomorrow's opportunity Dec 13, 2022

Data is a huge challenge for government customers. It is also a missed opportunity.

This episode of our podcast has Editor Nick Wakeman talk with Dominic Delmolino, vice president of field technology and engineering for Amazon Web Services' public sector business, about advances in cloud computing technology.

Delmolino explains how those advances can enable agencies to get better use out of the massive amounts of information they generate each day.

Inside the tech and business scouting strategy of Razor's Edge Ventures Dec 06, 2022

The government and commercial technology ecosystem is full of venture capital investors searching for companies with promising futures and to help them grow.

In this episode, our Ross Wilkers speaks with two leaders at one of the market's most active venture investment firms that has been busy in putting its third fund at $340 million in capital to work after completing the raise in the fall.

Mark Spoto and Matt Robinson, respectively a managing partner and vice president, explain the Razor's Edge investment thesis and the kinds of companies they look for when determining who they should back.

Financial criteria is a significant component of their strategy, but so is the U.S. national defense strategy that was unveiled in the fall. Spoto and Robinson also detail how Razor's Edge uses that document to inform the firm's own strategy and decision-making on what to do with the capital.

ManTech's new CEO shares his vision and keys for growth Oct 25, 2022

Much has changed at ManTech over recent months, namely a new owner and new chief executive. The company is now privately-held after 20 years as a public company.

But there is also stability with the transition to new CEO Matt Tait, formerly its chief operating officer. Tait shares his priorities with editor Nick Wakeman in this episode along with the marching orders he has from The Carlyle Group, the private equity group that acquired ManTech.

Put simply, Carlyle wants ManTech to be ManTech. That means focusing on the national security missions of its customers and delivering innovation. In turn, Tait’s focus is on the company’s people and differentiation from competitors.

He sees plenty of opportunities ahead for the company, both organically and with acquisitions.

Are you ready to leave your comfort zone? Oct 18, 2022

Walter Barnes III, founder of PM Consulting, shares his small business journey with Editor Nick Wakeman in this episode and offers advice on overcoming the hurdles and challenges he’s faced in the federal market.

Many small businesses share the same challenges in achieving growth and success. Barnes shares his experiences and why he made some of the choices he made, including recently teaming with private equity firm Enlightenment Capital to fuel his company's next stage of growth.

All companies have to eventually decide if they want to race with stronger and faster runners, or stay in their comfort zone. Barnes has definitely chosen the former. He also knows big decisions lie ahead -- strategic hires, acquisitions and winning bigger contracts.

How innovation theater can affect change across the public sector Oct 11, 2022

Both a lawyer and data scientist by training, Shubhi Mishra started Raft four years ago as a digital engineering company focused on solving problems with high degrees of difficulty.

Raft's method for doing just that is "innovation theater" -- a concept Mishra explained earlier this year at an entrepreneurs forum focused on defense and does so again in this episode with our Ross Wilkers.

Mishra concedes some may not view innovation theater in a positive light at first glance, but sees that model as necessary to breaking the status quo and finding solutions to federal agencies' hard challenges.

She also gives an alternative view on today's talent challenge in the public sector ecosystem and why that problem also requires different thinking than many of the oft-spoken perspectives.

The metaverse has already arrived, but more is on the way Oct 04, 2022

Plenty of hype and skepticism surrounds the metaverse, but the substance is there to be found underneath the surface.

This episode of Project 38 sees Chris Copeland and Kyle Michl, respectively chief technology and chief innovation officer at Accenture's federal subsidiary, introduce our Editor Nick Wakeman metaverse and explain how the physical and digital worlds are converging.

As they see it, everyone is already in the metaverse to a certain degree. The metaverse is merely new way of interacting with data and making use of it. It’s a new way of working that will touch nearly every aspect of government operations and how contractors deliver solutions to clients.

Companies and agencies are already adopting the principles of the metaverse into solutions for training, modeling and simulation, and other areas. Even if they call it something else other than the metaverse.

Volume is not all there is to the data challenge Sep 29, 2022

The U.S. government goes right to the top of the food chain regarding enterprises and the amounts of data they take in and distribute.

Which naturally leads to the problem of data generation outpacing the technology needed to make sense of the volume.

For this episode of Project 38, Babel Street CEO Michael Southworth takes our Ross Wilkers through what dual-use technology companies such as the one he leads are up to in working with agencies on solving that data challenge.

Some of the data volume statistics Southworth cited are overwhelming but illustrate the point of what problems need solving.

A fiscal-year end health check on the market Sep 19, 2022

Companies in the government technology landscape are familiar with turbulence in the market, but that has gone to a whole new level in recent times.

What they are navigating and how they are going about it is the umbrella topic of this episode that sees our Ross Wilkers exchange notes and takeaways with John Caucis and James Wichert, public sector IT analysts at the market intelligence firm Technology Business Research.

Just like us: the coverage area of Caucis and Wichert encompasses federal IT integrators and the mission systems businesses at large defense companies, but with a heavy influence of how companies and technologies from other verticals are shaping the government market.

The agenda for this episode includes discussion of how contractors are prioritizing their investments, headwinds such as supply chain and talent, and the evolving dynamic between integrators and cloud computing infrastructure providers.

The government's customer experience push is a business effort too Aug 30, 2022

President Biden's customer experience executive order signed in December 2021 puts technology at the center of efforts to improve how citizens obtain services from federal agencies.

Which brings up these questions that are the focus of this Project 38 episode: What tech tools are best for certain efforts? How do agencies apply those tools? How do agencies go about buying them?

Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers got some answers to those questions and more from Greg Gershman, co-founder and CEO of a digital services company looking to be a part of the citizen experience transformation.

Gershman was one of the core team members responsible for fixing HealthCare.gov after its troubled launch and helped start Ad Hoc with the idea of using some of those lessons learned to improve government service delivery.

An insider's view on how Peraton put three big pieces together Aug 09, 2022

Mike King will quickly answer the question of whether the multiple billions of dollars spent to make Peraton, Northrop Grumman’s IT business and Perspecta into a single company were worth the money and energy.

King can rattle off a series of wins as Peraton's chief growth officer. But as you will hear in this interview with Editor Nick Wakeman, King also quickly turns to subjects such as integration and the new culture Peraton has created.

Peraton is working hard to make the most out of those acquisitions and position itself for future opportunities around customer missions involving cloud computing, digital transformation and cybersecurity.

Throughout the conversation, King also shares what it takes to be successful in today’s market environment.

Inside Leidos' business development approach Jul 28, 2022

Debbie Opiekun can rattle off a list of big wins for Leidos as the company's chief business development officer, a job that carries the responsibility of feeding growth for the federal technology market's largest contractor.

In this Project 38 episode with Editor Nick Wakeman, Opiekun explains Leidos' philosophy for pursuing contracts and what they mean to the missions of federal customers.

Opiekun also provides insights on how Leidos decides to bid for a business opportunity, including those times where the company decides not to go for it.

Booz Allen signaling intent with $100M ventures fund Jul 25, 2022

Booz Allen Hamilton wants to show the startup community it is serious about helping take their technologies into the U.S. public sector ecosystem.

So much so that Booz Allen has stood up a venture capital organization to invest in emerging tech firms and given that team an initial $100 million in funding to start out with.

Why formalize it after having already made three such investments? Here to explain why and the gameplan for Booz Allen Ventures is Brian MacCarthy, vice president of tech scouting and ventures.

MacCarthy explains the goals of Booz Allen Ventures as including finding dual-use technologies that can be scaled for government missions, letting product development companies remain such and keeping customers at the forefront of tech adoption.

Batsakis and Speigel explain their 'low-code' middle market strategy Jul 20, 2022

Seven months ago, government market veterans George Batsakis and Jerad Speigel launched their partnership with a vision to create a middle-tier company that fills what they see as a gap in the landscape.

Their creation of Groundswell through three acquisitions and a rebranding presents a company whose services center around low-code/no-code application development and digital transformation, among others.

Groundswell's specific focus right now is on the Appian enterprise software offering but there is more to come, as Batsakis and Spiegel explain to Editor Nick Wakeman.

Inside Amentum's path forward after rapid expansion Jul 13, 2022

Amentum certainly has been a fast-moving consolidator since its launch as an independent government services company in 2020 with two large acquisitions since then.

So what's next on Amentum's agenda? CEO John Heller updates our Ross Wilkers on the integration of PAE into Amentum, which wrapped up the integration of DynCorp International when Heller became CEO in March.

Company no. 12 on our 2022 Top 100 rankings is a nearly $9 billion-annual revenue business with close to 50,000 employees around the world supporting U.S. and allied government programs.

Heller explains Amentum's rationale for scale and capability as both being interconnected and in-line with what the customer wants its contractors to have: broad offerings on the procurement cycle's end-to-end timeline that includes everything from technology infusion and development, to the operations-and-maintenance aspects of platforms.

Maximus embarks on new strategy via acquisitions and shifts Jul 07, 2022

Maximus is just getting started on its new strategy for the next three to five years after a series of large acquisitions to reposition the company for new opportunities.

Those have taken place as the pandemic exposed multiple weaknesses in how services are delivered to citizens, but company no. 19 on our 2022 Top 100 sees those gaps as space to grow.

For this episode, CEO Bruce Caswell and federal business leader Teresa Weipert talked with Editor Nick Wakeman about the changes at the company and how Maximus is melding its old culture with new ones.

Inside Accenture's progress on integrating Novetta Jul 05, 2022

Accenture Federal Services has used acquisitions to transform itself and sees its purchase of Novetta as yet another opportunity to reimagine the way it operates.

This episode of Project 38 is a deep dive into the journey company no. 13 on our 2022 Top 100 rankings is now on as told by Tiffanny Gates, former Novetta CEO and now AFS' national security portfolio leader; and Ira Entis, growth and strategy leader.

They update WT Editor Nick Wakeman on how the integration has gone, what's changed about the combined business, and the opportunities and challenges they see ahead.

Some market trends are driven by technology and others by evolving customer missions. Government customers want to make better and faster decisions. That desire drives decisions around data, technology and processes.

How L3Harris wears its 'Trusted Disruptor' hat Jun 30, 2022

Company no. 10 on our 2022 Top 100 rankings views its embrace of disruption both within itself and from the outside looking in as necessary for the business and Defense Department customer equally.

L3Harris Technologies' move in that direction is the focus of this episode featuring our Ross Wilkers with Sean Stackley, president of the company's integrated mission systems segment and a former assistant navy secretary for research, development and acquisition.

Stackley explains what L3Harris means in talking about itself as the "Trusted Disruptor" and how these two moves by the company earlier this year are part of that identity: a new agile development group, and a partnership with investment firm Shield Capital to work with startup technology firms.

Embracing those dual-use technologies made in commercial markets but scalable for the government is key to L3Harris' vision of being the "Trusted Disruptor" and shows how the shape of innovation has changed, as Stackley explains.

Lumen's '4th Industrial Revolution' push in the public sector Jun 28, 2022

Lumen Technologies' corporate mission is to help enterprise organizations capitalize on the convergence of digital, physical and bio technologies commonly called the "Fourth Industrial Revolution."

What that means for federal and public sector customers is a pillar of this episode featuring our Ross Wilkers' interview with Zain Ahmed, senior vice president of Lumen's public sector business.

Ahmed explains how company no. 31 our 2022 Top 100 rankings strives to ensure that agencies are not overwhelmed by their adoption and modernization journeys.

The discussion agenda also includes where things stand today on agencies' transitions to the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract, which was awarded five years ago and is intended as the government's main vehicle for modernizing their networks.

Parsons' view of both market and tech convergence Jun 23, 2022

Parsons Corp. was born an engineering company in 1944 and remains such today in a world vastly different than the one it started in.

Company number 39 on our 2022 Top 100 rankings is also equally a software business in both its government and infrastructure markets as told to us by Peter Torrellas, president of the company's connected communities business.

Our senior reporter Ross Wilkers spoke to Torrellas in conjunction with Parsons' official unveiling of a new solution set and delivery model, which helps explain where the company is going and how it sees markets as becoming converged.

Regarding that word "converged" -- do any lines exist anymore between what is digital and what is physical? Wilkers asks that question too and Torrellas answered.

Why a Top 100 company changed its name after 33 years Jun 15, 2022

Change is a prevalent theme among Top 100 companies as they constantly adapt to customer needs, technology trends and competitive pressures.

The focus of this Project 38 episode is NCI Information Systems' rebrand and relaunch as Empower AI 33 years after its founding -- a story that should resonate across the market.

CEO Paul Dillahay explains to Editor Nick Wakeman how that change was years in the making and is much more than just swapping out one name for another. It’s also not just about picking a strategy and sticking to it, but letting all of that transform a company.

Why we all need mentor-protégé relationships Jun 01, 2022

Hot technologies come and go, but building person-to-person relationships is ultimately what drives success.

Marketing experts Mark Amtower and Sheri Ascencio share the story of their mentor-protégé relationship with Editor Nick Wakeman. While Amtower is the mentor, they describe a relationship where the value flows in both directions.

Their bottom-line advice is that everyone needs a mentor and everyone eventually should look to be a mentor. No one succeeds alone.

Sagewind Capital's story and strategy as a GovCon investor May 26, 2022

Private equity in the government market is a two-way street in that many companies are looking for a investment partner to resource them, the latter of which also is looking for a business opportunity.

For this episode of Project 38, Sagewind Capital's founding partner Steve Lefkowitz and managing partner Raj Kanodia take our Ross Wilkers behind the scenes of how their private equity firm works with contractors to build and grow.

The conversation naturally turns to how the search for acquisitions goes for Sagewind's portfolio companies: Axient, By Light, Federal Advisory Partners, Gcom and Sigma Defense Systems.

But in a portfolio company is also step one in many ways, so Lefkowitz and Kanodia also explain how Sagewind works with businesses on organic growth and infrastructure they need to succeed.

CACI's DeEtte Gray offers her best advice to future women execs May 23, 2022

DeEtte Gray, president of CACI International’s business and information technology solutions sector, counts herself lucky because she had role models ahead of her. But more work remains to be done even though female leaders have come a long way.

For this episode of Project 38, Gray explains to Editor Nick Wakeman how she acts as role model and coach to others . She shares her best advice for future female executives -- take on challenges, be courageous, be confident and be prepared.

Why enterprise solutions demand a higher level of focus in today's market May 12, 2022

As president of CACI International’s business and information technology solutions segment, DeEtte Gray is responsible for delivering enterprise expertise and enterprise technology to CACI's customers. Her sector will account for about 45 percent of the company’s $6.2 billion in expected 2022 revenue.

That’s a huge piece of business to keep on a growth trajectory and in this episode of Project 38, she describes to Editor Nick Wakeman her strategy and how she keeps the business focused and pushing forward.

This includes her philosophy for picking contracts to pursue and building the capabilities that will differentiate CACI from competitors. The last thing she wants is to be in price shoot-out. Instead, she focuses on timing, competition, and CACI’s discriminators. And of course, you have to have the right answer to the question, “Why hire us?”

Today's tech challenges are not just a government matter May 06, 2022

A shortlist of today's stressors on the federal technology ecosystem include not enough high-quality computer chips to go around and other supply chain shortages, which are taking place amid the digital transformation push inside government.

But as part of this Project 38 episode, World Wide Technology's public sector leader Bryan Thomas tells our Ross Wilkers that commercial enterprises are going through much of the same dynamics as government agencies.

The main difference is found in the tools and methods businesses have to navigate those challenges, which Thomas points to as a matter mostly of policy and buying practices within government.

He also triangulates how technology, talent and investments relate to one another with the goal of both bringing government IT systems into the modern age and bringing more workers into the public sector ecosystem.

Considering AI as the means to the end solution May 02, 2022

Finding one’s niche in the vast and sometimes opaque world of artificial intelligence is a daunting task for many businesses amid the ongoing AI hype cycle.

In this episode of Project 38, SparkCognition’s government leader Logan Jones explains to our Ross Wilkers the company’s self-touted “full-spectrum AI” strategy and how they are working to map it with what the Defense Department is trying to achieve in AI.

AI is a means to the end as Jones sees it, rather than being the end, so the conversation gets into technologies intended to feed into the larger solution.

Check out these articles from WT and its partner publications for more background:

SparkCognition's government shop names lead exec

DOD Debuts Office to Help It 'Move Faster' on Artificial Intelligence

Pentagon adds new top AI role

DOD's AI portfolio skews toward research, GAO reports

A roadmap for avoiding common fallacies on what wins & loses Apr 22, 2022

Putting widely held beliefs to the test and challenging each other is a necessary exercise for any team to succeed and stay on that path of success.

For this episode of Project 38, FedSavvy Strategies’ leader Bring Lindholm breaks down to our Ross Wilkers how he sees businesses in the government market repeatedly falling into the same patterns of decision-making when it comes to their pursuits.

Lindholm and his FedSavvy teammates recently dove deep into some common misconceptions they run into with their Deadly Sins in Proposals series and this opinion article written for us -- Can you spot your Achilles' heel in your next pursuit?

As Lindholm sees it, arming one’s company with information and deeper understanding translates to being smarter in how they spend their dollars. This episode is intended as a roadmap for how to get there.

Verizon's new public sector leader pushes the 'indispensable partner' mantra Apr 15, 2022

Maggie Hallbach was nearly 18 months into her time at Verizon’s federal unit when she got the call to lead the telecommunications giant’s entire public sector portfolio.

For this episode of Project 38, Hallbach describes to our Ross Wilkers how she leans on experienced gained in a previous role at Verizon’s state and local government business and other key agenda items since her promotion in February.

One of Hallbach’s main priorities will be Verizon’s growth and execution on the so-called “EIS” contract vehicle for network modernization solutions. Where agencies are on their modernization path is a mixed bag however and Hallbach sheds light into Verizon’s conversations with customers on that front.

Taking what Verizon does on the 5G front in consumer markets into the federal environment is always top of mind for whomever leads public sector, so Hallbach shares her perspective on that leg of the company's continued strategy focused on being the "indispensable partner."

2021: The perfect storm for M&A Apr 12, 2022

Several factors are driving today’s record-setting pace of merger-and-acquisition pace such as access to capital, highly valued public companies, and increasing numbers of private equity firms.

But Kate Troendle and Marc Marlin of the investment bank KippsDeSanto also see the government market as maturing and getting more sophisticated, as they explain in this interview with editor Nick Wakeman.

Today’s environment sees a broader range of transactions beyond the traditional one company buying another variety. Small companies are buying others just like them, while other deals just focus on specific contract vehicle positions. Larger companies are divesting so they can shape and hone their portfolios.

Troendle and Marlin also see the momentum continuing in 2022 and even if the volume pulls back a bit, they believe the M&A landscape will remain substantial and robust.

How one mid-sized company acquires to transform itself Apr 08, 2022

One power of mergers and acquisitions is the way they can transform business and suddenly give a presence with added customers and capabilities.

For Gunnison Consulting, closing three transactions over less than 18 months has pushed the company from its status as a small business to solidly in the middle tier.

In this conversation between Gunnison CEO Gil Dussek and Editor Nick Wakeman, we hear about that journey and how it is just a beginning for the company.

Gunnison nearly doubled in size through its most recent purchase of Centerpoint, which brought the acquirer more full-and-open business and a new governmentwide contract vehicle.

Dussek shares the company’s strategy and how he sees the federal market changing.

Myths and truths of what drives company value Apr 05, 2022

The reality of operating in the government market is that organic growth is both hard to achieve and sustain, which explains much of the merger-and-acquisition activity that never ends.

But why is it so hard to begin with? That is the launch pad of this latest episode on federal market M&A that sees our Ross Wilkers interview Stephanie Johnson, government contracting senior analyst and valuation services director at RSM.

Johnson’s dual-hatted role at the professional services firm positions her as both an informed watcher of the overall market and practitioner who deciphers what drives true value in a government contractor.

Much of this conversation between Wilkers and Johnson sees her illuminate some myths about valuation that have a degree of truth to them but are not always what they seem on the surface, as well as how companies should think about the notion of their future scale and not just today’s.

How Booz Allen revved its M&A engine Apr 01, 2022

With two acquisitions in 2021 and another already in the works for 2022, Booz Allen Hamilton has shed its reputation as a reluctant buyer.

In fact, the company has closed eight of them since 2014. But in the recent years, the transactions have become larger and more frequent.

But don’t call Booz Allen consolidator. Chief Strategy Officer Matt Calderone explains to Editor Nick Wakeman in this episode of Project 38 how the company's activity isn't about adding scale, but is focused more on bringing in businesses that bring new capabilities and customers to accelerate growth.

Roadmaps for business success & solving the talent problem Jan 20, 2022

Cracking the code of the federal market is a dual exercise of first learning the extensive rules of the road and then finding what works in achieving business success.

In this episode of Project 38, Mike Sanders, founder and CEO of small business contractor Interactive Government Holdings shares his roadmap and playbook with our Ross Wilkers.

It is true that some of the challenges to success in the federal market are unique for small businesses, but Sanders sees the sector’s biggest challenge as one that companies of all shapes and sizes share in along with their agency customers.

Some of the are the same as well as Sanders sees a common goal: the market’s tent becoming more open and wider.

The tech & talent megatrends poised to shape 2022 Jan 12, 2022

Predicting how the future will play out is a next-to-impossible art becoming even harder, but knowing the landscape and what is important in that landscape helps you prepared for the future.

This episode of Project 38 looks at the megatrends in technology and talent that are poised to shape the public sector ecosystem in 2022 as outlined to our Ross Wilkers by Mike Canning, leader of Deloitte’s government and public services practice.

At the end of each year, the entire Deloitte team contributes to the firm’s annual “Tech Trends” report that is their outlook on the most important technology areas and events to watch in the coming year.

Both tech and talent are of course intertwined and it is people that is very front-of-mind for Canning, who also provided Wilkers some updates on an acquisition Deloitte closed near the end of 2021.

New Maximus Federal leader forges the path forward Jan 05, 2022

In this episode of Project 38, Maximus Federal President Teresa Weipert shares what is driving the business forward as it integrates two critical acquisitions and brings new solutions to customers.

She discusses with Editor Nick Wakeman how a focus on better outcomes leads her strategy and that can mean improving technologies, processes or systems. Most often: it is some combination of all three.

Why listening, mentorship and trust drive GDIT's success Dec 15, 2021

Amy Gilliland runs a multibillion-dollar enterprise as president of General Dynamics IT and believes listening, mentorship and trust are all critical elements for GDIT's success.

For this second in a two-part episode, Gilliland shares more with Editor Nick Wakeman on her approach expands on how the people part of the business is as important as any technology or service that a government contractor can provide to its customers.

Gilliland talks about how she makes connections throughout her business and how what seem like small decisions add up to major impacts. She believes both professional and personal mentors are crucial no matter where anyone sits in an organization.

Amy Gilliland on how people will drive GDIT's future Dec 08, 2021

As president of General Dynamics IT, Amy Gilliland runs one of the federal market's largest technology services businesses. She also oversaw one of the biggest integration efforts when GD doubled its portfolio through the acquisition of CSRA in 2018.

In this interview with Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman, she overviews the mechanisms put in place to combine the two businesses and how they laid the foundation for how the company responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief among those is a focus on people. They were important for the integration post-merger, but will be even more crucial for the long-term success of GDIT.

Understanding technology and customer priorities are just “table stakes,” according to Gilliland. People are what differentiates a company from the field.

As Justice Department scrutiny looms, here's a roadmap for contractors to get their cyber houses in order Dec 06, 2021

The Justice Department is showing more intent to hold companies that do business with federal agencies accountable for not disclosing data breaches and following cybersecurity standards to prevent them.

How does Justice plan to do that? Via existing authorities under the False Claims Act that imposes financial liability on businesses and people found to have defrauded governmental programs.

So what should contractors take heed of and act on? This episode of Project 38 aims to answer that question with the help of Susan Cassidy and Ashden Fein: partners at the law firm Covington who specialize in government contracting, cyber and national security.

As Cassidy and Fein tell our Ross Wilkers, what companies that work with the government should do today is more of a fine-tuning internal processes than developing new ones. But DOJ’s comments on what it plans to do are putting industry on notice given all the various cyber breaches of federal networks and critical infrastructure, and when considering the U.S. government is the largest collector of data anywhere.

CGI Federal's Stephanie Mango leads with a belief that everything can be better Nov 30, 2021

Stephanie Mango did not join CGI Federal as its new leader to fix a problem, but she also told Editor Nick Wakeman “nothing was broken but everything can be better.”

In this episode, Mango explains what that mantra means for the CGI Federal Team and her leadership approach since she became president earlier this year.

CGI Federal’s strategy continues to evolve as customers ask for greater modernization and improved security.

Organic growth will be key to how CGI Federal pursues that strategy, but inorganic growth is always an option too as evidenced by the recent acquisition of Array Information Technologies.

Mango sees growing opportunities for CGI Federal’s approach that melds technical expertise, innovation and global commercial best practices as the company develops partnerships with customers. She also keeps a focus on her employees, many of whom also are shareholders in CGI.

What to do when operational tech is a cyber target too Nov 22, 2021

Information technology has long been both an enabler of and disruption to business operations, plus a target for cyber breaches by people and organizations trying to do some disrupting of their own.

But what of the world of operational technology that controls industrial equipment and processes? In this episode of Project 38, Forescout public sector executive Tim Jones takes our Ross Wilkers through the intersection of cyber and OT.

Part of that conversation also means learning how IT and OT are becoming increasingly converged, or sometimes one-and-the-same. As a regional vice president of systems engineering, Jones sees that first-hand not just with federal agencies but many of the systems integrators that Forescout partners with on large technology programs.

Jones explains what the Biden administration’s cyber executive order and series of sprints means for the entire government OT ecosystem and the kind of starting point it could be.

Private equity boost fuels DMI's next phase of growth Nov 17, 2021

Digital Management Inc. believes it has done just fine on its own for the last 19 years. Founder and CEO Sunny Bajaj set a course that included being an early entrant to digital modernization and a mobile-first approach to solutions.

The company found success in both the commercial and public sector markets, which right now represent a 60-40 split of the business mix. They’ve also completed nine acquisitions over the last decade.

But Bajaj sees the federal market's appetite growing for the digital transformation that DMI can deliver. To strike while the iron is hot, he turned to the private equity group OceanSound Partners for an infusion of resources to fuel organic growth and support more acquisitions.

In this episode of Project 38, Bajaj explains to Editor Nick Wakeman why he picked a private equity partner over a strategic buyer and why that puts the company toward bigger and better things.

Digital & agile go beyond just the tech Nov 10, 2021

Infrastructure becoming increasingly digitized and federal agencies showing a willingness to try new ways to buy goods and services are two trends that Siemens' federal leader Tina Dolph lives and works with everyday. In this episode of Project 38, the CEO of Siemens Government Technologies explains to our Ross Wilkers how those topics are changing conversations with customers.

One line of discussion gaining increasing prominence that Dolph sheds light on is how cybersecurity is no longer just an information technology problem, but one that also poses a threat to operational technology.

Digitization of doing business kept things running during the pandemic. And Dolph also shares how she, the SGT team and their clients want to incorporate all they have learned from that experience.

Troubles at VA, CMMC reboot, Covid mandates drive the news Nov 08, 2021

In another of our Reporter Roundtables, Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman leads a discussion with FCW editors and reporters on today's hot topics and there have been plenty.

FCW Executive Editor Adam Mazmanian talks about challenges the Veterans Affairs Department is facing with the rollout of the Cerner electronic health record.

Senior Editor and Defense Reporter Lauren Williams gives her take on CMMC 2.0 -- the Defense Department's reboot of its standard for contractors to certify their cybersecurity practices and posture.

Natalie Alms covers the federal workforce: she talks about COVID-19 vaccine mandates and some of the confusion around deadlines for government employees and contractors to be fully vaccinated.

Going beyond just spectrum when talking 5G Oct 27, 2021

Newer and faster phones on a specific band of spectrum that work based on certain protocols and standards: that is the most frequently-cited aspect of the ongoing 5G revolution.

But in this episode of Project 38, Viasat’s government business president Craig Miller says there is a much bigger picture that everyone should consider amid this transition to the next generation of mobile networks.

Miller explains to our Ross Wilkers how 5G also is a foundational architecture by which different networks can be stitched together into a single construct, all in the name of them working together. Interoperability of devices and networks already in the field is crucial to making the 5G revolution work for government agencies and help them move to the next generation of communications.

Fair warning: this discussion waves back-and-forth between happenings in government and commercial markets. That is by design however, given how the 5G technology standard and its predecessors have been developed and iterated over time.
This discussion of network interoperability surrounds all future government networking initiatives like the Department of Defense’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control construct, known as JADC2.

Array's small business journey to the full-and-open world Oct 20, 2021

Every company has its own journey and in this episode, Sumeet Shrivastava shares with Editor Nick Wakeman the path Array Information Technologies followed from when he joined as CEO in 2008 to its just-completed sale CGI Federal.

Shrivastava describes the risks Array took such as focusing their efforts on a smaller part of the business as they positioned themselves for future growth. After an initial contraction, the company doubled in size to 300 employees and shifted from 85 percent of its revenue in small business set-aside work to 90 percent from full-and-open contracts.

Then it came a time for Array to find a buyer. Shrivastava details that part of Array's journey and how they came to pick CGI Federal.

Every small business faces the inflection points that Array has faced, so this first-hand account offers lessons learned and plenty of advice as companies navigate today’s market. Shrivastava shares some of the important questions businesses should ask themselves as they move from one phase to the next.

M&A's critical role in driving innovation Sep 30, 2021

Mergers, acquisitions and private equity are important engines for innovation in the defense market as retired Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle sees it.

For this episode of Project 38, the National Defense Industrial Association's CEO explains to our Nick Wakeman how the lure of a return on investment needs to be a consideration as the government regulates M&A activity.

Carlisle believes domestic investors should be attracted to fund young innovative companies, which after some development and nurturing are then sold to larger U.S. defense firms. That type of investment scenario thrives in the commercial world.

But today’s defense environment is still structured around a 1960s-era system for planning, programming, budgeting, and execution that Carlisle says needs to change.

Inside Peraton Labs' applied research focus Sep 23, 2021

Peraton’s transformation into a $7 billion-annual revenue business by integrating three big pieces -- itself, Northrop Grumman’s IT services business and Perspecta -- includes an applied research organization that can claim lineage to Bell Labs.

In this episode of Project 38, Peraton Labs President Petros Mouchtaris speaks with our Ross Wilkers about the three-decade history of the team he leads and how fits within the parent company.

Getting a head start on the federal government’s hardest problems is a paramount focus for Peraton Labs and this conversation goes over three big areas: cybersecurity, 5G and networks, and everything under the umbrella of automation including artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Mouchtaris also explains how Peraton Labs works on this existential idea: figuring out how with a little customization and refactoring, federal agencies can use many of the same technologies that the commercial sectors do.

What's behind the furious pace of today's M&A activity Sep 15, 2021

Merger-and-acquisition activity in the government market has maintained a stunning pace this year with transactions getting done fast and furious. Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers review some of the deals that stand out and what they say about trends driving today's market.

This includes a discussion about the different investment patterns by public companies such as Booz Allen Hamilton as well as large privately-backed players like Guidehouse, with plenty of smaller acquirers in between.

A full guide through this massive government contract restructuring Sep 07, 2021

The final phase of one of the federal government’s largest contract restructurings is on the horizon, but the consolidation of GSA's Multiple Award Schedule will take time and effort.

So ahead of an upcoming key deadline in mid-September, this episode of Project 38 goes over everything companies need to know at this juncture of the schedule consolidation with the help of Global Services President and CEO Courtney Fairchild.

All 24 Multiple Award Schedule contracts are becoming one as the General Services Administration pushes to simplify the program so industry and government alike have fewer burdens.

But phase three of this effort is the most complex and is more than just an administrative action, as noted GSA Schedule watcher Fairchild points out in this conversation with our Ross Wilkers.

Fairchild and her company work with clients pursuing these very contracts, so Wilkers went over some of the most common questions she is asked about the consolidation, frequent misconceptions over what it means for companies and what it will portend for the future of government contracting.

Inside Huntington Ingalls' Alion integration & overall services strategy Aug 31, 2021

Huntington Ingalls Industries just completed its largest-ever acquisition, the $1.65 billion deal for Alion Science & Technology, and is now at work integrating that big piece into the shipbuilder’s technical solutions segment.

This episode of Project 38 both functions as an update on that integration and a big-picture explanation of HII’s strategy for its technical solutions segment from its president Andy Green.

Much change and portfolio shaping has taken place since HII stood up the technical solutions segment in late 2016 to house its government services work, of which our Ross Wilkers has discussed with Green a few times since.

This latest conversation between Green and Wilkers includes a discussion on where HII looks to make sure its shipbuilding and solutions sides contribute to what the other is doing and the company at-large, plus some of the technical challenges they work on together and particularly in the emerging unmanned maritime domain.

What's driving today's hot M&A market? Aug 18, 2021

The market has rarely seen the level of merger-and-acquisition activity that we see today with a plethora of large and small buyers.

To breakdown what’s driving the deals, Editor Nick Wakeman spoke with Bob Kipps of the investment bank KippsDeSanto.

Kipps shares his views on why the market has been so good to buyers and sellers as well as the critical role being played by private equity firms, who drive nearly half of the transactions.

The expectation is that the pace of mergers and acquisitions will continue and Kipps explains why.

More code than papers: how Noblis found itself making that shift Aug 13, 2021

Noblis has found itself writing more code than papers these days amid the nonprofit organization’s continued push to be at the nexus of science and technology for federal agencies.

This episode of Project 38 takes you inside that multiple-year reinvention and how that plays out today as our Ross Wilkers pays a visit to Noblis CEO Amr ElSawy and Mile Corrigan, senior vice president of federal civilian solutions.

In finding that imbalance between code and papers, Noblis is also making an initial foray into the world of solutions and products with launch number one focusing on cybersecurity: which in the past year has found itself top of mind for many agencies again given the many high-profile breaches.

A second part of Noblis’ journey means integrating the acquisition of McKean Defense and that business now helps form the backbone of a new organization to serve defense clients. ElSawy and Corrigan provide an update on that integration and how Noblis is looking to spread the people and resources of McKean across the entire enterprise.

Inside AT&T's three main public sector pillars Aug 06, 2021

Even amid big changes above it, AT&T's public sector and public safety businesses have the same main three pillars for long-term growth and a mandate to bring the company's commercial offerings into the government space.

Get the inside view here in this second part of our Ross Wilkers' interview with two AT&T executives in charge of both aspects of that strategy -- Jason Porter, president of public sector and FirstNet; and Jill Singer, vice president of defense and national security.

AT&T counts the governmentwide EIS network modernization contract and FirstNet national public safety network as two franchise programs for agencies, while the 5G revolution has implications for every individual and institutions.

Porter and Singer explain how AT&T looks for synergy and applicability across its consumer and public sector businesses, plus offer updates on both the EIS and FirstNet initiatives.

AT&T's return to its core and the public sector Aug 02, 2021

What does AT&T’s broad strategic reset to focus on technology and connectivity mean for its public sector and public safety businesses?

Part one of Project 38 gets some answers to that question from two AT&T executives responsible for carrying out that vision in the government market -- Jason Porter, president of public sector and FirstNet; and Jill Singer, vice president of defense and national security.

Two particular threads help illustrate AT&T’s re-casted vision: the sales of the media businesses (which we did not go over) and divestiture of the defense IT professional services business (which we went over in detail).

Porter and Singer explain to our Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers how they see AT&T’s return to its connectivity core as making more room to invest in the public sector and FirstNet public safety network businesses. They also lift the curtain on AT&T’s vision for the post-pandemic future of work.

The evolution of 'Verizon 2.0' & its public sector arm Jul 23, 2021

Verizon’s mantra both for its public sector business and the corporation as a whole is to be the indispensable partner alongside customers for modernizing their networks.

In this episode of Project 38, Verizon’s public sector leader Jennifer Chronis explains to our Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers how that approach as part of the overall “Verizon 2.0” vision informs the telecommunications giant’s federal market strategy.

Chronis also overviews how Verizon ties these common technology threads between both the commercial and public sector sides of Verizon: 5G adoption, cloud computing, software-defined networks and pretty much everything under the umbrella of modernization.

For many federal agencies that means leveraging the government-wide EIS contract for next-generation telecom services. EIS and Verizon’s future of work strategy were additional topics of discussion.

Raytheon continues mega-integration of tech, people & processes Jul 20, 2021

Raytheon Technologies as the world knows it today has only just begun its second year since the megamerger to create the No. 2 company on this year’s Top 100 rankings.

The aerospace-and-defense giant’s intelligence and space segment is headquartered in our region: Arlington, Virginia to be exact. For this episode of Project 38, that segment’s president in Roy Azevedo takes Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers inside the mega-integration at the operational level and the technology synergies Raytheon is looking to capture.

Also on the agenda for this discussion: how Raytheon Intelligence and Space is undertaking its own digital transformation alongside federal customers, that business’ acquisition of a small satellite maker in late 2020 and the overall company’s thinking with respect to the post-pandemic future of work.

Project 38: When's the right time to sell your company? Jul 14, 2021

Often coverage of mergers and acquisitions focuses on the buyer and what it means to them, but in this episode of Project 38 Brandee Daly tells Editor Nick Wakeman why she decided the time was right to sell her company to Smartronix.

Daly isn’t retiring, but the sale of D2S Consulting Group means she can continue to focus on her customers’ missions as a new executive at Smartronix. She describes the acquisition as more of a partnership and that’s just the kind of deal that CEO Peter LaMontagne likes to make.

They explain the opportunities ahead, why sometimes selling your company is the best thing to do and for other instances the bravest thing is to not sell at all.

Tech, talent & deals feed into ManTech's strategy & tagline Jul 13, 2021

ManTech’s shift to the government technology company it is today has been in the making for several years. More signs of that show in its climb of two spots to No. 26 on this year’s Top 100.

But how does ManTech go about the tagline in its logo of “Bringing Digital to the Mission?” In this episode of Project 38, Chief Operating Officer Matt Tait tells Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers about how that mantra explains both today’s work for customers and ManTech’s longer-term direction.

Acquisitions, talent and technology focus areas all feed into that overall approach for ManTech. Tait breaks all of those aspects down and explains how ManTech seeks to ensure the links between them stay connected.

Inside Leidos' culture of change Jul 07, 2021

Even with its status as the No. 1 company on the 2021 Washington Technology Top 100, Leidos is focused on what's changing in the market and the priorities and needs of its customers.

On the cusp of his retirement, Chief Financial Officer James Reagan talks with Editor Nick Wakeman about what a change culture means at Leidos and why that is a critical element of growth strategy. That outlook drives its decisions around acquisitions, divestitures and where it invests its research-and-development dollars.

The result has been a track record of organic growth in the double digits.

Booz Allen's next strategic plan and the power of diversity Jun 30, 2021

Booz Allen Hamilton is now at No. 6 on the 2021 Washington Technology Top 100 and the company is coming off of its Vision 2020 strategy that transformed it from a management consulting firm to a technology company.

For this episode, Editor Nick Wakeman shares excerpts from his interview with Booz Allen Executive Vice President Karen Dahut. They talk about the strategy that will drive Booz Allen for the next decade as well as the value the company places in diversity and inclusion.

They also talk about what it will take for Booz Allen Hamilton, now 107 years old, to make it to the firm's 200th birthday in 2114.

Speed of adoption & chip shortage: the tech ecosystem's stressors Jun 18, 2021

How much stress on the system is created by the so-called “need for speed” with regard to advanced technology adoption and deployment in federal agencies?

In this episode of Project 38, we pick up on the second half of Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers’ discussion with a pair of chief technology officers at federal systems integrators on the right methodologies to help government customers wanting to shrink timelines from years to months and sometimes weeks.

Peder Jungck of BAE Systems Inc.’s intelligence and security sector and Cameron Chehreh of Dell Federal conceded that the shift does create stress on the system, but also explain ways to work through it.

Wilkers closed the conversation by asking Jungck and Chehreh for their views on the global computer chip shortage that has disrupted substantially the entire economy, plus what that could mean for the federal technology landscape and the future global supply chain.

Inside the strategy of the newest M&A player Jun 15, 2021

Eighteen months ago, Sagewind Capital began a series of deals that have led to the creation of the newest mid-tier company in the market – Axient. Led by CEO Patrick Murphy the company is poised for more deals as it pursues opportunities that require systems integration, digital engineering, software development and the development of complex systems.

Murphy explains to Editor Nick Wakeman the strategy behind the acquisitions as well as the kind of contracts and customers the company will pursue going forward. The growth will come from more acquisitions as well as expanding the work it does with the Army, Air Force, NASA and Missile Defense Agency.

As larger entity, Axient will now be chasing larger contracts as it also looks to close more acquisitions. Murphy predicts the next deal could come before the end of the years.

The finances (and other building blocks) of tech modernization Jun 08, 2021

Whether in government or the commercial world, technology investments don't happens without having the right financial model in place and the right policy tools to manage those resources.

This two-part episode of Project 38 has a pair of chief technology officers at federal systems integrators lend their insight and perspective to Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers on those matters and how they see a new budget environment impacting how agencies decide on their priorities.

Peder Jungck of BAE Systems Inc.’s intelligence and security sector and Cameron Chehreh of Dell Federal see how those dynamics play out first-hand in their work with customers and also each other given their companies are industry partners.

For part one, Jungck and Chehreh emphasized that key word of “partnership” and how the current situation of work remaining of a different cadence during the pandemic has put more emphasis on collaboration by everyone.

Triangulating the future of technology, consulting & the workforce May 20, 2021

Federal contractors have long touted their need and desire to embrace new methods of working with customers and employees, some of which have been accelerated during the pandemic and only becoming clearer just as the end appears near.

This episode of Project 38 focuses on some of those changes that are here to stay as seen by Kevin Greer and Kyle Tuberson, respectively vice president of consulting services at CGI Federal and public sector chief technology officer at ICF.

At the core of this discussion was the relationship between technology and consulting, which challenges companies to offer agencies a blend of both the digital skills themselves and knowledge of how the tools have worked across multiple markets.

None of that can happen without success on the workforce construction and development front, which Greer and Tuberson believe will and must look different in future to keep talented employees in the industry.

Inside today's stellar M&A market May 12, 2021

The last two years have seen a significant increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions taking place in the government market. Editor Nick Wakeman and Jean Stack of the investment bank Baird discuss what’s driving the deals and why the rampant pace is likely to continue.

Stack is the co-manager of Baird's government and defense practice. She has a long history of helping buyers and sellers make their deals happen, and has an understanding what those transactions mean.

In this episode, she says why the strong volume of activity will continue and how not everyone should be a seller.

Why a whole lotta data is only part of the equation May 07, 2021

It goes without saying that data is a buzzword all on its own even when disregarding other popular catchphrases that surround it these days.

For this episode of Project 38, Qlik Federal’s leader Andrew Churchill describes to our Ross Wilkers how the conversation across the public sector ecosystem stretches beyond just knowing there’s too much data in the world to work with.

That especially holds true for the federal government, which has specific methods that many of its agencies are legally required to use in storing their data. Churchill explains that data literacy and other new practices related to talent development are just as important in that equation as the technologies, namely cloud hosting.

How the way you think puts you at risk of Black Swans and Gray Rhinos May 04, 2021

Steve Kelman, who led the Office of Federal Procurement Policy during the Clinton Administration and is a current professor at the Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, has a reputation as a big thinker about management and government and why things work the way they do.

In this conversation with Editor Nick Wakeman, Kelman shares his thoughts about Black Swans and Gray Rhinos -- those often traumatic events that we either didn’t see coming or we knew could happen but we failed to prepare for.

Critical to that preparation is cultivating the ability to break away from your standard ways of thinking and not falling into the trap of doing things in certain ways because that is how they have always been done. Status quo thinking is often what leaves us vulnerable when disaster inevitably strikes.

Reporters Roundup: Biden's address, JEDI and DISA in the news Apr 29, 2021

Washington Technology and FCW staffers offer their early views on President Biden’s address to Congress where he proposed trillions in spending to create jobs and address myriad issues around climate change, national security and the nation’s infrastructure.

That wasn’t the only big news to hit this week. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that Amazon’s challenge of the JEDI cloud award to rival Microsoft can continue. FCW also published a special report highlighting the trends driving activity at the Defense Information Systems Agency, one of the larger IT buyers in the federal market.

Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers are joined by FCW Executive Editor Adam Mazmanian and Senior Editor Lauren Williams discuss what these events mean and what’s coming next, including some topics that aren’t getting as much attention.

Can agencies force contractors to get vaccinated? Apr 19, 2021

COVID-19 vaccinations are rolling out across the country and as that happens, federal agencies and many of their contractors are encouraging their employees to get inoculated.

But can agencies require contractor employees to get vaccinated and how can they formalize that requirement? We get some answers in this episode from Al Krachman and Brooke Iley, partners at law firm Blank Rome who specialize in government contracts and labor who wrote this article on what such a requirement could look like.

Much is still TBD, but Krachman and Iley told Washington Technology Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers that there is some precedence for such a requirement and an emerging view across industry that it will happen for COVID-19 vaccinations. Their advice is to both not be surprised and to start preparing for such requirements.

How small businesses can be M&A players too Apr 14, 2021

In a crowded mergers and acquisitions environment, Bluestone Investment Partners has carved out its own niche by focusing on companies in the $15 million-to-$50 million revenue range. They often are just emerging from the small business set-aside arena and seek more resources to compete for full and open opportunities.

John Allen, co-founder and managing partner of Bluestone Investment Partners, shares in this episode the philosophy and strategy that drives how the firm made its deals in recent years.

Large and mid-size companies typically dominate M&A activity, but Allen explains to WT Editor Nick Wakeman there is no reason that a small business can participate as well -- with the right partner.

CMMC: The latest updates and what's next Mar 29, 2021

FCW Senior Editor Lauren Williams, our resident expert on the emerging new cybersecurity standards for contractors, stops by Project 38 to talk with Editor Nick Wakeman and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers about the latest developments.
The Defense Department is making steady progress on the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification despite ups and downs and potential delays. Williams also fills us in on the latest with the CMMC Accreditation Body, the industry group chartered by DOD to run the training and certification program. There has been some turnover with the all-volunteer board, but the chairman is vowing to accelerate the process of getting the system up and running.
There also is news that the 15 pilot contracts that will be the first to require teams to have CMMC certification. The solicitations were supposed to already be out in the market, but now the expectation is later this year or early next.
Williams, Wakeman and Wilkers share what they know and what might be next on the horizon for CMMC.

(NOTE: This podcast was recorded and published prior to March 29's news that the CMMC AB hired a new chief executive)

2021 M&A trends and insights Mar 22, 2021

Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers see little slowing the pace of mergers and acquisitions in the federal market with buyers of all types continuing to make big deals.
In this episode, they discuss several reasons for the strong M&A activity including the availability of credit and other financial resources, a customer who favors larger and more consolidated contract vehicles and ever-bigger task orders, and the continuing demand for capabilities that support digital transformation efforts.
Wakeman and Wilkers review some of the major deals of 2020 and the big deals so far this year. Their prediction -- more is to come in 2021.

What investor concerns say about the federal market Mar 18, 2021

This episode of Project 38 brings together two minds that have different ways of looking at the government contracting landscape but they both represent a critical stakeholder: the investor.
Representing investors that mainly focus on public companies is Jon Raviv, an equity research analyst for Citigroup. The private investor’s point-of-view comes courtesy of Mark Frantz, co-founder and general partner at growth stage investment firm Blue Delta Capital Partners.
On the agenda of the discussion moderated by Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers: just how optimistic (or realistic) should we be about the market’s overall health amid renewed budget and deficit chatter whilst the pandemic continues, macroeconomic factors that must be considered in gauging how the sector is fairing, and of course the overall M&A deal landscape.
(NOTE: This episode was recorded March 4. Since then, the latest stimulus package has been signed into law and extends the current CARES Act reimbursements for contractors through Sept. 30. And yes, more M&A deals have been announced.)

Arlington Capital and BlueHalo's strategy to transform modern warfare Mar 15, 2021

BlueHalo hit the market hard with six acquisitions in 2020 and as CEO Jonathan Moneymaker explains to Editor Nick Wakeman, this latest platform out of Arlington Capital Partners is pursuing opportunities around the transformation of modern warfare.
BlueHalo's acquisition strategy has focused on capabilities around space superiority, directed energy, missile defense, C4ISR, cybersecurity and intelligence solutions. The goal is to create a mid-tier player that can have an impact on how the U.S. and its allies engage and deter near-peer adversaries.
As Moneymaker explains, the strategy is multi-faceted and one to watch in the years ahead.

SAIC-Unisys Federal: Was it worth it? Mar 08, 2021

It’s been a year since Science Applications International Corp. made one of the biggest acquisitions of 2020 and this conversation between Editor Nick Wakeman and Bob Genter, SAIC's defense and civilian president, starts with the question: Was the Unisys Federal acquisition worth it?
Then they dive deeper into market opportunities, impacts of COVID-19 and lessons learned how to prepare for and execute an acquisition. Whether or not you are in a pandemic.
Genter shares how he sees the $1.2 billion Unisys Federal acquisition paying off for SAIC, how it has shaped the kind of work it can pursue and what might be next on the company’s target list for acquisitions.

Dive deep into the 2021 GWAC agenda Feb 26, 2021

Whether 2021 is the “Year Of The GWAC” remains to be seen, but government-wide acquisition contract vehicles will be high on the agenda for the companies pursuing them and the agencies that will be using them.
In this episode of Project 38, Senior Staff Ross Wilkers goes to three leading market research and proposal specialists to get their views and insight into the overall GWAC landscape and what companies must take into account when pursuing them.
For Part 1, Amber Hart and Lisa Shea Mundt from The Pulse of GovCon break down one hotly-anticipated vehicle in CIO-SP4 that will be ready for industry to bid on any day now and deliver some hard-hitting truths on how not all vehicles are created alike.
Part 2 begins at 26:03 with Martin Hicks of Global Services and the focus of that conversation is on how the General Services Administration is proceeding with its own GWAC portfolio, and in one case making a second attempt at bringing small business IT companies into the fold.

Four mega-trends driving today's market Feb 23, 2021

Today’s market stands on the brink of great change and as SAIC's chief technology officer Charles Onstott explains to WT Editor Nick Wakeman, there are four mega-trends shaping those changes that companies need to embrace.
These trends are driven by people and processes, but enabled by technology. Onstott says you have to weigh several items in order to take advantage of these mega-trends, including the outcomes your customer is looking for and the kind of skills you already have.
You also have to be willing to change and adapt. As Onstott explains, looking in the mirror and understanding where you and then mapping that against where your customer is headed should be a regular part of the way you do business.

Why tradecraft is the best way to treat your competitive data Feb 17, 2021

What if the whole exercise of making sense out of all the data in existence on the government contracting market is a matter of tradecraft? In this episode of Project 38, Brian Lindholm of FedSavvy Strategies answers that question and explains the idea of turning that exercise into a tradecraft.
Lindholm and his colleagues at FedSavvy Strategies work with other contractors on just that: making sense of everything that is out there on themselves, their competitors and the market at-large. Competitive intelligence is a key cog in that machine of both growing and keeping their business.
Knowing what is out there is only part of the battle, as Lindholm explains in this conversation. He also shares his views on how to build this skill set of knowing and acting into a company’s infrastructure for the long term. Item number two in this discussion is how to keep the business, or avoiding what he calls “incumbentitis.”

Accenture's John Goodman on the need for speed and agility Feb 11, 2021

The impacts of COVID-19 coupled with emerging technologies translates to government customers having different expectations and being more open to new ways of addressing challenges.
John Goodman, chief executive of Accenture Federal Services explains in this conversation with WT Editor Nick Wakeman what those challenges mean to his company and where he sees the market moving forward.
Goodman's perspective is largely optimistic because while the customer needs are great, he sees the technology being there to address those needs. COVID-19 has also opened government agencies to new ways of doing business and pulled them away from traditional approaches that have slowed progress.
You will hear Goodman share Accenture Federal’s strategy and what he sees as challenges and opportunities ahead.

Deloitte's vision of the post-COVID market Feb 04, 2021

The long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will include changed workplaces and government customers adjusting how they do business and their priorities. In this episode, Deloitte public sector leader Mike Canning shares his views on these trends with Editor Nick Wakeman.
He expects the future will have a hybrid workforce, where location will no longer dictate who companies hire and how they serve the government customer. There also is a need for agencies to evolve the way they do business.
As the nation recovers new priorities are emerging. According to Canning, one in particular is around public health and he sees that as a national security issue.

Reporter Roundtable: Mega-deals, Biden initiatives and CMMC drive the news cycle Jan 29, 2021

2021 has gotten off to a fast start with the new Biden Administration coming in and there has been plenty of business activity as well. In this episode of Project 38, the editorial teams from Washington Technology and FCW talk with WT Editor Nick Wakeman about the news so far.

WT Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers shares his insights on what's behind the proposed merger of Peraton, Perspecta and Northrop Grumman's IT business, a mega deal that will create an $8 billion-annual revenue business.

FCW Executive Editor Adam Mazmanian talks about the early days of Biden Administration, particularly where the early political appointees are sailing through confirmation and where some of the trouble spots are appearing.

President Biden has been very active with executive orders, particularly with his equity agenda, and FCW Staff Writer Natalie Alms shares her reporting about what is in these orders and how they might impact government contractors.

Also top of mind for many contractors and especially defense firms is the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. So we brought in Lauren Williams, senior editor of FCW and Defense Systems, to bring us up to date on CMMC and what's on the horizon.

Inside Telos' path to its IPO and what comes next Jan 22, 2021

In November, Telos Corp. became the latest government technology and cybersecurity company to tell its story to Wall Street and bring in public investors for its next phase of growth. For this episode of Project 38, Telos CEO John Wood takes us inside the five-decade-old firm’s initial public offering and why that path makes sense for them.
Much of Telos’ growth leading up to the IPO has been “bootstrapped” in the words of Wood, who also shares how he and other company leaders thought through what next step would be best for Telos.
This conversation with Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers also includes much discussion on the trends driving today’s cybersecurity landscape, such as takeaways and implications arising from the SolarWinds hack late last year.

How a new 'More's Law' drives today's market Jan 15, 2021

In this episode of Project 38, Smartronix CEO Peter LaMontagne explains a new concept called “More’s Law” that sees agencies demand more data, more often, from more sources, in more formats and with more self-service tools to drive insights.
As he tells Editor Nick Wakeman, none of that can happen without a robust cloud infrastructure.
Smartronix was an early cloud pioneer in the federal market and with LaMontagne now at the helm, Smartronix is focused on steadily moving up the stack as seen with its recent acquisition of Data Strong.
LaMontagne sees the entire industry at an inflexion point because customer needs are rapidly evolving, which means companies need to adapt and ideally get ahead of the curve. There’s never been a more important time to think strategically.

How 2020 has shaped 2021 opportunities Jan 08, 2021

We can finally turn the page to 2021 but any look to the future requires some looking back at 2020. In this episode of Project 38, PM Consulting Group’s founder Walter Barnes gives Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers the ground-floor perspective on both what drove the federal market in 2020 and factors to shape it in 2021.
The pandemic remains absolutely central to activity in just about every corner of work and life. But some trends such as the move to “best-in-class” contract vehicles and increases in teaming arrangements between large and small businesses would have remained in play even without COVID-19 in the picture.
Barnes sees these drivers first-hand as the leader of a small business himself and brings words of wisdom from his company’s experience to help others down a similar path. He also shares how PM Consulting Group has sought to get creative in keeping employees connected as they are physically separated, plus why 2022 is the year he is really waiting for.

2020's top GovCon stories Dec 28, 2020

2020 was a year like no other. The pandemic kicked it off in March and continues. The year came to a close with a massive hack of government systems and with a contentious presidential transition underway. In the final 2020 episode of Project 38, Editor Nick Wakeman gathered reporters from Washington Technology, FCW and Defense Systems to review their top stories of the year.
Lauren Williams, senior editor of FCW and Defense Systems, brings her views from the defense beat, while FCW’s Mark Rockwell shares important procurement trends. And WT Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers talks the business of government.
What’s remarkable is the amount of overlap they see in their respective beats. Much is driven by COVID-19 and the profound changes it has brought to the market. But nothing in government happens in a vacuum and their discussion reinforces that point.

How the DynCorp deal transforms Amentum Dec 23, 2020

Amentum is a new name to the government market but its people are no strangers given its past history as the former AECOM management services business. In this episode of Project 38, Amentum CEO John Vollmer brings us up to speed on how the new(ish) company navigated 2020 and is integrating its recent acquisition of DynCorp.

Nine months after its launch, Amentum closed its deal for DynCorp International, a transaction that was negotiated and agreed upon in almost exclusively virtual fashion given the coronavirus pandemic. A select group of leaders are meeting in-person to spearhead the integration that still has a large digital component to it.

Vollmer and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers both found agreement in this discussion that the world is not going back to the way it was before COVID-19, though many have different opinions on what that world will look like. How to up one’s digital game for success in the future is a question on Amentum’s mind, which Vollmer gives us a glimpse into.

Will the Biden administration drive more commercial tech in the GovCon market? Dec 22, 2020

Megan Metzger of Dcode, the organization built to bring commercial technology firms into the federal market, and Editor Nick Wakeman talk about opportunities sparked by the incoming Biden administration. But many of those opportunities have more to do with a changing market than with politics.

Dcode's CEO describes in this episode how government buyers are looking for more commercial technologies, while systems integrators are slowly turning in that direction as well and want more direct relationships with emerging tech firms.

She sees a shakeup ahead that will favor the companies that embrace commercial ways of doing business as that is what customers are demanding. To succeed, traditional government contractors need to undergo a mindset shift away from putting butts in seats and toward partnership and collaboration with commercial tech providers.

How public-private partnerships have forever changed Dec 17, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic is one of those situations where collaborations between the public and private sector entities had to accelerate given the situation. In this episode of Project 38, Guidehouse’s two lead executives share their views with Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers on what those partnerships looked like in 2020 and how change going forward.
CEO Scott McIntyre and Chief Operating Officer Charles Beard have also have led the company (once PwC’s U.S. public sector shop) through its launch as an independent business in 2018 and acquisition of Navigant Consulting in 2019 to gain equal government and commercial footings. They update us on how that deal has changed Guidehouse and why it was important for them to be present with the regulators and those who are regulated.
Also on the agenda: questions to answer in thinking about the future of work and what the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines mean for future teaming between government agencies and companies like Guidehouse.

How the Biden administration can accelerate digital services Dec 15, 2020

Many people see little change from the Trump administration to the Biden administration as far as tech priorities are concerned. But in this conversation with Editor Nick Wakeman, 18F co-founder Greg Godbout describes what he sees as an opportunity to accelerate the evolution toward a digital transformation of government.
In addition to 18F, Godbout also led digital services efforts at the Environmental Protection Agency. His advocacy for digital transformation continues as part of the executive team leading Fearless.
Godbout says the Biden administration needs to focus on delivery and outcomes and that focus will accelerate the transformation of how government agencies provide services to their constituents. He sees an opportunity to supercharge an ongoing evolution.

COVID's permanent impact on GovCon and human capital Dec 10, 2020

We are always told that government contracting is a people business at its core even as technology and connectivity loom large. In this episode of Project 38, we hear from the GovCon market’s leading human capital specialists on how COVID-19 has wrought permanent changes to the way companies recruit and develop their work force.
Jon Barney and Sam Dinte, respectively of Odgers Berndston and Dinte Executive Search, work with contractors on building their leadership teams and help shape their overall human resources strategies. Their first-person anecdotes shared here illustrate both how companies had to shift and are thinking through the long-term implications.
They see the human factor as continuing to be at the core of how GovCon companies operate, but certainly the underlying mechanics will look very different going forward.

Inside Microsoft's federal focus and the importance of mission resiliency Dec 07, 2020

From her perch as president of Microsoft’s U.S. regulated industries group, Toni Townes-Whitley looks across both the legacy of the software giant as well as its future. In this episode of Project 38, she speaks with Editor Nick Wakeman about what that future entails and how it is reflected in major wins such as the CIA’s Commercial Cloud Enterprise contract.
Whitley also talks about social justice, the incoming Biden administration and how computing at the edge will be a game changer across the public sector.
An overarching theme of the discussion with Whitley is the importance of mission resiliency, something the ongoing pandemic has been teaching the entire marketplace.

How a presidential transition impacts your BD and capture activities Nov 23, 2020

Even in normal election year, the transition from one administration to the next create uncertainty in the market. In this episode of Project 38, Editor Nick Wakeman speaks with business development and capture management expert Bob Lohfeld on what companies should be doing to successfully move through these next few months.
His biggest piece of advice is to realize many IT priorities will not change. Some flavors might be adjusted, but agencies will still rely heavily on contractors. That doesn’t mean standing still however. As Lohfeld explains, you still have work to do and that means taking care of your customers like never before.

What you need to know about the looming CMMC deadline Nov 19, 2020

A Nov. 30 deadline looms for compliance with the CMMC cyber standard's interim rule, so Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman checks in with FCW and Defense Systems Senior Editor Lauren Williams to get her take on what industry should be doing.

Williams and Wakeman talk about what compliance with the Defense Department's new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification means, the challenges ahead, and what kind of impact the transition to a Biden administration might have.

Williams is an experienced defense reporter who has closely tracked the development of CMMC. Here she offers her insights on what has happened so far and where she is going to focus her reporting going forward.

REPORTER ROUNDTABLE: The presidential transition and today's pressing GovCon issues Nov 09, 2020

The presidential transition is underway, sort of, and other issues are weighing on the market. In this episode of Project 38, Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman leads a discussion with his colleagues from WT and FCW about what the transition means as well as other issues having an impact on the government contracting market.
FCW Executive Editor Adam Mazmanian talks transition, while WT Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers shares the perspective of publicly traded contractors on the upcoming budget as well as what’s behind the increase in merger and acquisition activity. FCW Staff Writer Natalie Alms dives into President Trump’s executive order banning certain anti-bias training, and while it’ll likely be pulled back by the Biden administration, the extraction might not be as simple as the stroke of a pen.

How small businesses can breach the barrier of silence during the time of COVID Nov 03, 2020

For this episode of Project 38, Katie Bilek and Stephanie Alexander, the founders and matchmakers at Govmates, return (with a Zoom assist) to Project 38 to help us turn a closer lens on small business and non-traditional government contracting amid the pandemic.
The Govmates duo say that GovCon has mostly fared well so far through the pandemic. But they are also here to caution that some agencies have a lot on their plate and may not be as vocal, which can be a barrier for small businesses and non-traditional firms seeking more of a government footprint.
Bilek and Alexander offer their advice on how to climb that barrier of silence in this conversation with Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers. Also on the agenda: changes to GovCon made permanent by COVID-19 and how companies are getting in tune with the Pentagon’s new CMMC cyber certification program.

The danger of implicit bias and its impact on business decisions Oct 27, 2020

Discussions around unconscious or implicit bias have become more common in the months since the killing of George Floyd, and President Trump’s recent executive order banning certain kinds of bias and discrimination training are a pushback against the notion that unconscious bias even exists.
In this episode of Project 38, diversity and inclusion expert Minal Bopaiah tells Editor Nick Wakeman what exactly is implicit bias and how impacts businesses and decision making.
There are no easy answers. But as Bopaiah explains, our biases shape our behaviors and our technology in ways we might not imagine. So too there are ways to mitigate the impact.

What fiscal 2020 spending tells us about the market Oct 19, 2020

Fiscal year 2020 just wrapped up and that presents an opportunity to both look back upon those 12 months and look ahead to the next. In this episode of Project 38, Bloomberg Government’s senior defense analyst Rob Levinson helps us do just that as we review how civilian agencies put their contracting dollars to work in fiscal 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic response led to a 17 percent spike in contract spending by those agencies last year and the final number came out to $228 billion in obligations. Looking under the hood of those numbers also helps reveal the different methods agencies have used to award those contracts and what they have prioritized during the pandemic.
Levinson also sheds light on other trends he and his BGOV colleagues are looking at to better understand what the federal contracting environment looks like today and what they are watching for in fiscal 2021, now just in its third week.

Your next big tech hub might be in rural America Oct 15, 2020

Don't sell small town America short.
In this episode, Brendan Walsh from 1901 Group talks about how today's tech revolution is creating an opportunity to build a successful business in rural America.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic became a large-scale technology and business disrupter, the Fourth Industrial Revolution was underway with growing adoption of technologies around the Internet of Things and cloud computing. What COVID-19 did was throw gasoline on a fire that was just starting to burn.
Walsh, 1901 Group's senior vice president of partner relations, explains to Editor Nick Wakeman how the pandemic has accelerated this revolution and how a great business opportunity awaits in small towns and rural areas across the country.

COVID forces long-term shift in culture and technology Oct 13, 2020

The COVID-19 crisis has forced agencies and companies to field a dispersed workforce that relies on technology to stay productive and connected. In this episode of Project 38, Gary Hix of Hitachi Vantara Federal discusses how much those change could be permanent.
As the company’s chief technology officer, Hix keeps a close eye on the IT challenges government agencies face now and the emerging challenges they'll face in the future. Hix also wears the hat of a solution architect to help customer visions become a reality.
In his view remote work does not mean easier work and particularly when it comes to company culture, as he shares with Washington Technology Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers. Different skills and cadences are needed when employees are dispersed -- one of many lessons agencies and contractors need to learn about today’s environment to be successful in tomorrow’s.

Top 100: Inside NCI's AI-driven growth strategy Oct 07, 2020

NCI Information Systems is navigating its way past some headwinds with a focus on artificial intelligence solutions and a move away from low-price contracts.
In another of our Top 100 podcasts, CEO Paul Dillahay tells Editor Nick Wakeman where the company sees its future opportunities and some early signs of success along with challenges he sees on the horizon.

Reporters' Roundup: CMMC, CARES Act and the risk of a shutdown Oct 05, 2020

The last month has brought more than its share of important news for government contractors as well as their agency customers.
In this Project 38 podcast a panel of leading journalists discuss some of the pressing topics of concern for the GovCon market.
FCW Executive Editor Adam Mazmanian, Washington Technology Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers, and FCW Senior Editor Lauren Williams join WT Editor Nick Wakeman to discuss topics such as the latest activity around CMMC, the extension of the CARES Act and the looming possibility of a government shutdown in December.

Top 100: Why Leidos isn't standing still Sep 28, 2020

In part two of our interview with Leidos' business development chief Roy Stevens, he talks about how the 2016 merger with Lockheed Martin's services business continues to pay dividends today and how more recent acquisitions are positioning the company for new opportunities.

Even though Leidos is the No. 1 company on our Top 100, it sees a need to evolve and grow as the market changes. Stevens shares with Editor Nick Wakeman opportunities the company sees on the horizon, including the Asia-Pacific region to health care.

The company continues to grow organically and through acquisitions, but Stevens also points to nimbleness and agility as at the center of many key strategic moves.

TOP 100: How focus drives SAIC's success Sep 23, 2020

In this episode of Project 38, Nazzic Keene shares her thoughts and perspective after one year as CEO of Top 100 company Science Applications International Corp. Keene started the year with three priorities and she talks with Editor Nick Wakeman about how those priorities continue to drive the company forward, with some tweaks and adjustments of course.
Keene also goes over the integrations of Unisys Federal and Engility, plus how COVID-19 is complicated everything. But through it all, she has guided the company with a focus on people and customers.
SAIC has also scored some big wins, both recompetes and takeaways. This conversation explores how to balance the big wins with what she calls the smaller “bread and butter” contract awards.

How the Top 100's telecom giants keep us connected during the pandemic Sep 21, 2020

In this episode of Project 38, we hear from top public sector executives at the 2020 Washington Technology Top 100’s three highest-ranked telecommunications firms on their work to keep government agencies and people connected during the coronavirus pandemic.
Almost overnight, the COVID-19 situation created a vast dispersed workforce that sees many people based at home and all of them primarily using the same networks provided by the three largest telecom companies – AT&T, Lumen and Verizon – and others. That shift posed new questions around the networks themselves, cybersecurity and work culture that will last beyond on the end of the pandemic, whenever that is.
These conversations with Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers reveal more on how the network providers worked with agencies to get ready quickly for a new working world and what that looks like today. Also up for discussion: the technology and business trends already shaping today’s environment that are accelerating and perhaps here to stay.
Participants in order of appearance are:
• Dave Young, Lumen (formerly CenturyLink Inc.) senior vice president for public sector and global hyperscale cloud
• Mike Maiorana, Verizon senior vice president for public sector
• Xavier Williams, AT&T president for public sector and the FirstNet public safety network

Top 100: Inside Serco's monster year Sep 17, 2020

In our continuing series of Top 100 related podcasts, Serco Inc. CEO Dave Dacquino explains how the company started laying the groundwork years ago for a monster 2019.

Last year, Serco Group's U.S. subsidiary posted 20 percent organic growth and closed the $336 million acquisition of the Navy design business of Alion Science & Technology. But getting there required serious soul searching and a focus on changing the company’s culture that relied too much on low-price bids. Those moves helped the company land at No. 34 on the 2020 Washington Technology Top 100 rankings of the largest contractors in the government market.

Dacquino and his team continue to look for deficiencies as the company looks to pursue more complex work. He shares with Editor-in-Chief Nick Wakeman how they have done that and is what next for the company.

Inside BAE's Top 100 strategy and COVID-19's impact on operations Sep 15, 2020

Rarely does a blue chip defense hardware company close two deals it views as transformational in the same calendar year. In this episode of Project 38, BAE Systems Inc. Tom Arseneault explains the thinking for why the company moved quickly to put its best foot forward for a military GPS business and airborne radio unit formerly of Raytheon Technologies.

The British defense company’s U.S. subsidiary has a lot on its agenda right now beyond integrating those acquisitions. Managing through the coronavirus pandemic remains a fluid situation with many moving parts, so Arseneault shares what the subsidiary known as “Inc.” internally has done on the supply chain and workforce front.

While it too early to make firm conclusions, Arseneault sounds fairly certain that BAE as a company and the industry as a whole will have a different work cadence and environment in a post-pandemic world. Arseneault shares with Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers what BAE has done to take in everything it is learning now, plus how the company thinks about several broad uncertainties hanging over the industry.

Top 100 insights into Leidos' capture strategy Sep 10, 2020

In this episode, Roy Stevens, executive vice president and chief of business development and strategy for Leidos, the No. 1 company on the Top 100, shares insights on how Leidos chased two of the biggest contracts of the year.

The company pursued and won the $6.5 billion Global Solutions Management Operations contract or GSMO. Leidos was the incumbent on that one. They also successfully challenged the incumbent for the Navy’s $7.7 billion NGEN contract. That contract is still tied up in a protest but it is still worth exploring how Leidos chased that contract.

GovCon’s most important number is not strictly a dollar amount Aug 27, 2020

Companies in the government market always cast glances at the budget, but now they are zeroed in on whether they will see a key piece of legislation to help them manage through the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode of Project 38, Kea Matory of the National Defense Industrial Association updates us on where the situation is regarding Section 3610 of the CARES Act economic stimulus law that expires Sept. 30.
NDIA is one of the major trade groups that represents companies in the government market. As director for legislative policy, Matory tracks developments on Capitol Hill and helps government contractors make sense out of laws and policy that govern the industry.
CARES Act Section 3610 lets contractors seek reimbursement from agencies if employees cannot get to their worksite because of a pandemic-caused closure or if COVID-19 directly impacts them. But as Matory explains, there is still ambiguity across industry on how to go through the process and especially if companies are considering the Paycheck Protection Program.
Part of that ambiguity is also rooted in how the clock is running down on Section 3610 and where the money comes from. We recorded this episode Wednesday, Aug. 26.

COVID-19 as a trigger for innovation Aug 19, 2020

As chief technology officer for Science Applications International Corp., Charles Onstott is constantly looking to understand new technologies and how they can be applied to customer problems. In this episode of Project 38, he explains some myriad ways the COVID-19 pandemic has become a trigger for innovation.

The virus is changing how we work, the kind of health care services we need and even the business models government contractors adopt. All of these changes have a technology impact, from how vaccines are developed to the communications infrastructure we need to how data is collected and used.

Onstott shares his views on where these trends might be headed and why companies need to be intentional about how they pursue new technologies and find new ways to apply existing tools.

How the ban on Chinese tech impacts the GovCon community Jul 30, 2020

Defense policy expert and attorney Samantha Clark explains the far ranging implications of a new rule that bans agencies from awarding contracts to companies using or selling telecommunications equipment from certain China based companies
Clark, special counsel at law firm Covington and Burling, talks with senior staff writer Ross Wilkers to help understand what this new rule means and how government contractors are making sense out of it in this episode of Project 38.
A former Senate Armed Services Committee staffer, Clark was a key player in driving the annual passage of the National Defense Authorization Act and this new rule stems from the 2019 edition of the NDAA.
Much is still to be determined given how the so-called Section 889 provision is still fresh, but Clark explains how the rule came to be and how GovCon companies will adjust to its implementation.

Reporters' Roundtable: NDAA, Alliant 2 SB cancellation and Lockheed's new CEO Jul 23, 2020

Reporters from FCW and Washington Technology discuss the latest news including the cancellation of Alliant 2 SB, the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, and the direction Lockheed Martin's new CEO is taking the company.
Ross Wilkers from WT and Lauren Williams and Mark Rockwell from FCW join host Nick Wakeman in a roundtable discussion of the latest news in the market. They dig beyond the headlines and share what stories are on their radar and why those stories are important to the government market.

Understanding the impact of COVID and the social justice movement on the GovCon market Jul 17, 2020

The continuing acceleration of the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with the simultaneous revival of diversity and social justice movements in the United States can be overwhelming. In this episode of Project 38, we attempt to distill what it all means with the help of Capitol Hill veteran and GovCon community leader Tonya Saunders.
Saunders watches how policy sets the environment in which government contractors operate and how events in society often dictate policy as a government relations specialist and advocate for mid-tier firms. She is the founder and head of both Washington Premier Group and Mid-Tier Advocacy.
While today’s ongoing events are a lot to take in, Saunders share her professional and personal experiences with Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers to help make some sense of what's going on and what the future might hold.

Stress test on the defense industrial base Jul 14, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the defense industrial base through a stress test unlike any other but one that did have some groundwork laid before it. In this episode of Project 38, John Luddy of the Aerospace Industries Association explains what the sector was concerned about before the pandemic and what this national emergency has highlighted.

AIA is one of the major trade groups that represents companies in the government market to federal agencies and lawmakers. As its vice president of national security policy, Luddy has his eye not just on member companies but how their government customers and the Defense Department in particular are managing through the crisis.

Major questions remain to be answered and the funding environment remains a significant question mark, but Luddy walks us through the items that warrant consideration and what DOD has done so far to support cash-strapped companies in particular.

What Deltek's Clarity report says about today's market Jul 06, 2020

Deltek's annual Clarity report is a yearly snapshot of the industry that looks at people, processes and best practices in the government contracting industry.

But in the midst of a pandemic that has turned the world of contractors and customers upside down, the report offers an opportunity to focus on what companies can do to improve and how they compare to their peers.

Editor-in-Chief Nick Wakeman talks with Amy Champigny, Deltek’s senior product marketing manager and leader of the annual Clarity effort. She shares key takeaways from the report and areas of opportunity for the industry such as human capital strategies, how data can drive better decisions and IT and business development trends.

Diversity and national security Jun 25, 2020

The conversation about diversity in the national security and overall public sector ecosystem goes through peaks and troughs, and the past month would certainly qualify as a peak period. Get a glimpse at how talk and action go hand-in-hand in this episode of Project 38 with Maggie Feldman-Piltch, founder and CEO of #NatSecGirlSquad.

Feldman-Piltch lives and breathes the subject of what she and the consulting and networking firm call “competent diversity” and leadership to make that happen. Competent diversity to them means building a national security and defense workforce that is more resilient, capable and agile.

Guidehouse worked with the Squad on a survey released earlier this year to ask members about the challenges they face in entering, working in and leading in national security. Feldman-Piltch discusses with Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers some of the broader trends and findings that illuminate what is happening on the ground floor, plus how to turn the conversation into action.

How the coronavirus has changed business as usual Jun 04, 2020

Successful companies have always had closely-aligned sales and marketing teams, but the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the usual way of doing business, creating a significant challenge across the market.

Allan Rubin, head of marketing at ORock Technology and recognized expert in the field, shares how sales and marketing teams can stay aligned in a world where traditional activities such as live events and in-person networking have fallen to the wayside as everything has shifted to digital and virtual interactions.

Alignment is critical for survival in today's market. In this interview, Rubin describes how teams need to collaborate and communicate as they make their way forward in this changing environment.

PSC's David Berteau and the path forward May 21, 2020

David Berteau sees the myriad ways the coronavirus pandemic from his perch as President and CEO of the Professional Services Council. In this episode of the Project 38 podcast, Berteau shares his thoughts on the health of the market and where it could go from here.

PSC is the leading voice of government services companies to federal agencies and lawmakers. Those firms' services cover a broad swath of the market and as such, the impact of the pandemic has ranged greatly from company to company. But one common thread they all share has been how to manage the impact on employees.

Major questions still remain to be answered and Berteau reviews these as the market looks at how it will arrive at a new normal and when that might be.

Global IT issues hit the federal landscape May 19, 2020

How do the widely-reported disruptions in global IT supply chains caused by COVID-19 impact both the federal government and its leading systems integrators? We take an “outside-in” approach to finding some answers in this episode with Michael Hong and Jeff Sorensen of Kearney’s public sector practice.

Why call it “outside-in” for this conversation? Federal agencies and their largest IT product and service providers all rely on the same supply chain network, one way or another, all the way from basic materials to the bundled solutions that integrators are responsible for providing. The COVID-19 crisis is causing a rethink of approaches to supply chain management and sourcing.

Given Kearney’s work with both commercial and public sector organizations, Hong and Sorensen both hear the questions their clients are asking and provide some possible answers that others are discovering. They also share some perspectives on how enterprises have bolstered their IT investments and what that means for the virtual workplace of today/tomorrow.

Reporters' Roundtable: COVID-19's impact on work, business and policy May 14, 2020

Three reporters from Washington Technology and our sibling publication FCW.com share insights on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on business, policy and work in the government market.
Washington Technology Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers, and FCW reporters Lia Russell and Lauren Williams have focused their coverage on the myriad ways the pandemic is reshaping the marketplace.
But each brings a unique perspective. Russell is focused on workforce issues. Wilkers has been writing about how contractors are reacting. While Williams is focused on the Defense Department and how its operations are adapting.
In this conversation with Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman, the three share what they’ve learned and what think will happen next as the marketplace slowly makes its way to a new normal.

Looking both ahead and back at the enduring innovation agenda May 04, 2020

A glance at what the pre-coronavirus world looked like for federal agencies quickly brings technology modernization back to the forefront, and that is where we pick up for this second of a two-part interview with ICF CEO John Wasson.
The federal government’s priorities are obviously centered around the pandemic today, innovation in terms of both new technology and business practices were top of mind for many agencies before that shift in attention.
In this part two, Wasson and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers transition their conversation from the ongoing crisis to the IT modernization agenda that includes the move to what are known as “low code, no code” platforms. Wasson explains the role those technologies play in innovation and how the firm sees its work with highly-regulated commercial clients as a natural bridge to the company’s federal programs.

How a pandemic creates short-term shifts and long-term questions Apr 30, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is raising several wide-ranging questions and implications for both government agencies and the industry that supports them, which we examine in this first of a two-part interview with ICF CEO John Wasson.
Public health has also been brought to the forefront in ways rarely, if ever seen before, and is an area ICF is heavily involved in thanks to its work with many agencies on the front lines of the pandemic response. Think Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health.
In this part one, Wasson shares his views to Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers on what this crisis means for the country’s public health ecosystem going forward and how an event such as this could lead to a very different way of responding to future pandemics. They started by talking about ICF and other professional services firms like it maintain their connections with federal customers in a world where so many have shifted to remote work.

Stan Soloway on the strategic impact of the COVID-19 crisis Apr 28, 2020

The government market along with the rest of the country continues to be rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore how industry is responding and how it will be changed going forward in this conversation with Stan Soloway, former president and CEO of the Professional Services Council.

Soloway now consults with companies across the market. From that perch. he has unique insights into what many executives are thinking and the strategic moves they are contemplating once we emerge from the crisis.

Soloway also shares the immediate concerns he sees and what might happen as the shift to more long-term thinking begins. That includes the impact on pre-COVID-19 trends of IT modernization and cloud computing adoption, as well as what company leaders are learning from the current crisis.

Real Talk on COVID-19 Stimulus Apr 27, 2020

In another podcast from our partner Government Marketing University, the Real Talk explores the $2 trillion stimulus package and what it means to federal contractors.
Tom Suder, president and founder of the Advanced Technology Research Center, and host Matt Langan of L&R Communication review how this sweeping legislation is impacting the market.
They talk about questions such as:
• What does the $2T Coronavirus stimulus mean for federal employees and contractors?
• Can all federal agencies benefit? Are there key areas focused on Civilian, DoD, Intel?
• Breaking down the IT portion of the stimulus package a bit more…what areas will industry see the most need from federal agencies?
• Are there any agencies that have jumped in and accelerate connecting with government industry to maximize this new funding?
• How prepared is industry to respond quickly to this new demand for IT related support?
• What are the key takeaways for government industry to be aware of when it comes to stimulus package?

How the public sector is going all in on the COVID-19 response Apr 23, 2020

What does a “whole of government” approach mean in terms of how agencies and their industry partners respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? Find out in this episode with Jerry McGinn, executive director of George Mason University’s Center for Government Contracting.

That response is not just about where the contracting dollars are going, though McGinn and the GMU GovCon team are tracking that closely. It is also about how the entire public sector ecosystem of agencies and government contractors are functioning today and how that is shaping what the environment looks like for the long-term in a post-COVID world.

McGinn formerly led the Defense Department’s Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy and before that worked in industry himself. No one can exactly predict the future, but McGinn does share some of the broader questions and trends he thinks will be a big part of that future.

This episode was recorded before the Senate’s Tuesday passage of the latest CARES Act relief legislation and the GMU GovCon Center’s most recent executive update that was released Wednesday.

Real Talk on Trusted Internet Connections 3.0 Apr 22, 2020

In this Real Talk podcast from our partner GMarkU, we explore TIC 3.0, which was released in December, and what it means for the government market.
Trusted Internet Connection 3.0 will have a broad impact on the market and this podcast examines TIC 3.0 from the basics to the pain points agencies face.
Tom Suder, president and founder of the Advanced Technology Research Center, and host Matt Langan of L&R Communications share their expertise on a topic that will have an impact across the market.

What GovCon's new 'business as usual' looks like during pandemic Apr 09, 2020

Get a glimpse at how the business of government contracting has shifted to a different pace and cadence amid the COVID-19 pandemic in this episode with Amber Hart and Lisa Shea Mundt, the founders in charge at market intelligence firm The Pulse of GovCon.

With some exceptions, much of the world has shifted to a largely stay-at-home setup that is causing both government contractors and their agency customers to think and collaborate in different ways with much of their personnel working remotely. With their business development and proposal consultant hats on, Hart and Mundt share insights into how GovCon firms and agencies have made that shift and what that looks like now in terms of daily operations.

Hart and Mundt also have their eyes on where federal dollars are going as part of the overall COVID-19 response and have important words of wisdom every business should take heed of before looking to position for that funding.

Legal issues arise in contracting during a pandemic Apr 06, 2020

The coronavirus response has elevated several legal issues for government contractors. In this episode, contracts attorney James Fontana highlights where legal issues can arise and how contractors should be proactive in protecting their business and employees.

Fontana, co-founder and managing partner of the firm Dempsey-Fontana, has been a contracts lawyer for three decades and understands the legal exposure and risks contractors face in an ever changing environment.

He talks to Editor Nick Wakeman about how COVID-19 and the response to it are creating new challenges for government contractors, from understanding customer requirements to working from home to the need to communicate.

Protecting small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic Apr 01, 2020

The challenges and risks faced by small business government contractors are severe. They face possible work stoppages, slower payments, layoffs, and the threat of bankruptcy.
Bruce Lyman is the CEO of Parabilis, a firm that works with government contractors on getting financing. He talks with Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers about the challenges small businesses face and what can be done to support them.
The economic impact of widespread small business failures is great, but there are steps the government is taking. Lyman explains what is being done and other tools the government could use to help small firms.

The small business path to CMMC compliance Mar 27, 2020

Alba Aleman, Citizant CEO and recognized small business advocate, explains that small businesses should embrace the Defense Department's new cybersecurity requirements for contractors as both a way of differentiating themselves and path to being a stronger organization instead of seeing it as a burden.
In fact, Aleman believes the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification standard should have been made mandatory years ago. For this episode, she explains how her company approaches CMMC as a quality issue and one that will have benefits across of all of Citizant. It's an example both large and small businesses can follow.

COVID-19 and the risk to the GovCon supply chain Mar 24, 2020

Explore the impact of COVID-19 on the GovCon supply chain in Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers' interview with Chris Meissner, founding partner with the 202 Group, a data analytics and market intelligence firm.
Meissner's firm specializes in using rich analytics tools to examine tech trends and develop competitive intelligence, particularly around the supply chain.
There are still a lot of unknowns, but Meissner explains the areas to pay attention to as the market moves forward.

Harnessing social media in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic Mar 20, 2020

Many of us are practicing social distancing as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic: either with being hunkered down at home or in offices that are very sparsely populated. It’s a different way of working that all of us are adjusting to.

That also means many are working with little to no face-to-face contact with customers and partners. Marketing expert Mark Amtower shares how social media tools can build and enrich those critical relationships even when you can't be in the same place.

COVID 19: BD and capture actions should you be taking right now Mar 18, 2020

There is plenty for contractors to do as the coronavirus turns the market and world on its collective head. Business development and capture expert Lisa Pafe offers advice and insights on what actions you should take as COVID 19 causes delays and postponements.

All of us are facing a market that has been significantly disrupted because of the pandemic. The normal course of business looks very different, but that doesn't mean the work comes to a halt.

Pafe, a Washington Technology columnist and vice president of Lohfeld Consulting, has over 25 years of business development and capture management experience. Here, she offers practical advice on concrete actions you should be taking today.

The art of matchmaking and differentiation Feb 25, 2020

A matchmaker in the government market must be an intermediary that possesses a deep understanding of two key items: what customers are asking for, and the companies whose capabilities might fill that need.
Stephanie Alexander and Katie Bilek are the matchmakers at Govmates where they blend art and algorithm to connect customers and companies. In this podcast interview with Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers, they share the perspective they’ve gained from their unique perch in the market, including views on non-traditional players, small business challenges and what differentiation really means.

Reporter's Notebook: Big news comes in bunches Feb 12, 2020

The month of February started with a bang with several important news stories breaking within days of each other, including big news from Leidos, SAIC and the CIA.
Leidos closed a $1 billion acquisition and then announced another deal just as big. The next day the Navy picked them for the $7.7 billion NGEN award, a takeaway from the incumbent , Perspecta.
Not to be outdone, SAIC announced their own deal, a $1.2 billion acquisition of Unisys Federal. And that deal will fundamentally change how SAIC goes to market.
That's enough news for one week but we also had the release of the final CMMC standards, AECOM completed its spin-off of Amentum, PAE went public, Huntington Ingalls signed a $350 million deal to buy marine robotic developer Hydroid, and, finally, the CIA released the draft solicitation for its multi-billion cloud contract, Commercial Cloud Enterprise.
And just to add a little more color, Amazon Web Services filed a request to depose President Trump and others as part of its protest battle over the JEDI cloud contract.
Catching their breath, Editor Nick Wakeman and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers give their take on what all this news means and what they see ahead in the market.

CMMC and what's to come Feb 10, 2020

The defense market is gearing up for the CMMC requirement but a lot of unanswered questions remain. Here's what we know so far and what to watch for in the weeks ahead.
FCW defense beat writer Lauren Williams shares insights from her coverage of CMMC, including what challenges the Defense Department is trying to address.
Contractors need to watch for several things including development of the first contracts with CMMC requirements, the creation of third-party assessors and how to get subcontractors into compliance.
Our conversation with Williams sheds light on this issues and more as the market moves forward.

How Leidos got into the shipbuilding business Feb 05, 2020

What does it take to build a ship when you don’t own a shipyard? Leidos executive Donnelly Bohan explains the technology, strategy and success behind the company’s Sea Hunter project to build an autonomous Navy vessel.

Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers interviews Bohan about how Leidos has grown the program and how the broader conversation over the technology has shifted from the word "unmanned" to "autonomous." There really is a difference.

The Navy eyes increases in spending on vessels with no sailors or submariners, and Bohan shares her company’s strategy to grow in this market.

What Disney can teach the public sector Jan 21, 2020

Disney World has embraced big data and the internet of things as tools to improve its operations and its efforts offer lessons to the public sector.
David Turner, president and CEO of Hitachi Vantara Federal shares how the company helps the resort to gather and use the reams of data it collects from rides, operations and visitors to enhance the park experience. This is no Mickey Mouse endeavor and it offers plenty of lessons for the public sector, from the Defense Department and how it manages military facilities to civilian agencies that are addressing a wide range of constituent needs.
In this conversation with Editor Nick Wakeman, Turner shares what his company has been doing and why the government should pay attention to what's going on at the Magic Kingdom and beyond.

Reporters Notebook: 2020 Outlook Jan 13, 2020

Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers review the major events of 2019 and discuss what they see ahead.
This includes M&A activity, the impact of a fully appropriated budget and what JEDI, DEOS and C2E really say about where the market is headed.

Reporters Notebook: JEDI fallout Nov 14, 2019

JEDI was a blockbuster award to Microsoft as they bested Amazon Web Services but don't call it an upset. In fact, many systems integrators are giving it a simple shrug of the shoulders because the winner really wasn't that critical for them. Most SIs work with both Microsoft and AWS so they saw an opportunity to support JEDI no matter who won.
Wilkers and Wakeman also discuss protests and Oracle's continuing fight against JEDI. And then there is the mergers and acquisition activity which remains strong.
The pair discuss what these activities mean and what's next as we head into the final weeks of 2019.

What's behind Dovel's leadership transition Nov 04, 2019

Executives from Dovel Technologies share why the company is going through a leadership transition and what it says about their growth strategy.
Dovel is moving into the next phase of its growth, the type of change many companies find challenging. Often the skills that got you to one level of success aren't the same ones that will get you to the next. Something has to give.
Dovel's Paul Lesley talks about why he moved from CEO to executive chairman and new CEO Damon Griggs shares what's next for the rapidly growing midtier contractor.

Are you ready for the next great tech era? Oct 30, 2019

The history of IT innovation can be divided into several eras (mainfraime, PC, the Web, etc.) and SAIC Chief Technology Officer Charles Onstott explains what era we are in now and what might be coming next.

In our conversation we talk about the current era of MACC (you'll need to listen to learn what that is) and how there’s a possibility that IT might not be the primary driver of innovation going forward. It’ll still play a critical role but other technologies will drive change as well.

The challenge is keeping up. Your success will depend on it.

GDIT's Yogesh Khanna on how cloud and cyber disrupt the market Oct 21, 2019

General Dynamics IT Chief Technology Officer Yogesh Khanna talks about how cloud computing and the push for cybersecurity are fundamentally changing the market and what systems integrators delivering to customers.
Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers conducts his third interview with a senior defense executive about how the sector is going through a period of great disruption.
For Khanna, cloud and cyber are only the beginning. In fact, cloud doesn't really matter. It is what you deliver on the cloud. In other words, the mission and that is why cybersecurity is at the heart of what customers are demanding.

BAE Systems and the future of defense Oct 10, 2019

Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers speaks with Peder Jungck, BAE Systems Inc. vice president and general manager for intelligence solutions, about how technology is remaking the defense market and what it'll take to win the future.
This is the second in a series of interviews by Wilkers with defense executives about how the market is changing and how their companies are adapting.
Critical issues include the pressure to manage data and extract value from it, the evolving role of the systems integrator, and how to track emerging commercial technologies.

How Raytheon's tech business is disrupting itself Oct 03, 2019

In this episode, Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers interviews Raytheon’s Dave Wajsgras about the transformation that is occurring across the defense market and how Raytheon is disrupting itself.
Disruption and transformation are common themes across the defense sector and Wajsgras shares what it means to Raytheon, including the impact of the pending acquisition of United Technology Corp.’s defense and aerospace businesses.
This is the first in a series of interviews with defense industry executives as they discuss the changes occurring across the market.

SAP's Mark Testoni on JEDI, the cloud and more disruption Sep 26, 2019

We talk to Mark Testoni, CEO of SAP NS2 , about how even without an award yet JEDI has been a force in the market and points the way to more disruption.
Traditional government contractors and their customers are increasing their embrace of commercial technologies but there is still more to do.
And all of this is laying the foundation for more disruption when 5G gains momentum and ushers in a new era of innovation and change in the market.

SOS International and the next 30 years Sep 17, 2019

SOS International is celebrating its 30th birthday this week but has its sights set well beyond that milestone for the family-owned and family-run contractor. In this Project 38 episode, CEO Julian Setian tells us what he sees the company's next 30 years looking like as the market keeps changing.

While the company looks back with pride on its first 30 years, there are no plans to slow down as the company continues to evolve and find new opportunities for growth.

Reporters Notebook III Aug 15, 2019

In this episode of Project 38, Editor Nick Wakeman and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers discuss some of the major stories they've been tracking, from JEDI to the M&A activity that has been reshaping the market.
Wakeman and Wilkers offer their perspective what the major deals such as L3 and Harris Corp. and Raytheon and United Technologies. They also discuss JEDI, DEOS and what the annual fourth quarter spending spree is revealing about trends in the market.

How the government built Silicon Valley Aug 14, 2019

Silicon Valley has long been seen as the bread basket of commercial technology but a new book by Margaret O'Mara traces the Valley's roots to major investments by the federal government following World War II. Listen to our conversation with O'Mara as she recounts some of the lessons learned and why the relationship may ebb and flow but it'll never fade away.
While the amounts of money in research grants and contract spending was important, the greater impact was on how the government spent those funds that helped foster an environment of innovation and entrepreneurship.
Her book explains how the companies and technologies developed but also the people and relationships that drove the tech world forward.
Today, we face a different world but what the government needs from the Valley and what the Valley wants from the government have never been more critical to national security and economic growth.

Inside Parsons' IPO strategy and beyond Aug 01, 2019

Chuck Harrington, chairman and CEO of Parsons, shares the strategy behind their move to the public market after years as an employee-owned company.
In our conversation, he talks about the IPO process but also why it was important to make that move for the company as it targets more growth in the federal market.
The company has been active acquirer in recent years and the pubic offering only adds more fuel for Parsons to make deals.
Harrington shares this and more in a conversation with Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers.

Nazzic Keene and the future of SAIC Jul 31, 2019

On the cusp of taking the reins as CEO of SAIC, Nazzic Keene sat down with us to talk about her new role and where she sees future opportunities for Science Applications International Corp.
She replaces Tony Moraco, who retires on Aug. 1. She will lead a company that has seen significant changes in recent years, notably the acquisition of Engility and a bigger footprint in the intelligence market.
She talks about how she worked with Moraco over the last two years as COO, how she'll lead the company as CEO, and where she sees their strengths and needs moving forward.

GD's Chris Marzilli strategic insights part 2 Jul 24, 2019

In part 2 of our interview with General Dynamics Chris Marzilli, we dive deeper into the strategic direction of the Mission Systems and Information Technology businesses, including the integration of CSRA and how Mission Systems and IT go to market together.
Marzilli shares how the No. 2 company on the 2019 Washington Technology Top 100 sees the evolving opportunities in the federal market.

General Dynamics exec shares strategic insights Jul 22, 2019

Listen in on our Top 100 interview with General Dynamics executive Chris Marzilli, who leads the company's MIssion Systems and Information Technology businesses, as he shares the company's strategy and outlook in Part 1 of a two part podcast.
In this part, Marzilli talks about the changes that GD has been going through in recent years including acquisitions, divestitures and restructuring of the company.
The goal is quality revenue and growth and as he explains that means picking what businesses the company wants to be in and what it doesn't.
Marzilli also talks about how the market is changing and what the means to General Dynamics.

Tom Romeo and the Maximus transformation Jul 03, 2019

Listen to our Top 100 interview with Tom Romeo as he describes how the acquisition of General Dynamics call center business has positioned Maximius for a new era of growth.
The deal with GD vaulted Maximus from No. 72 on the Top 100 to No. 25. But beyond its ranking Romero sees opportunities for more citizen engagement work as well as opportunities to its capabilities to deliver more "as a service" solutions to government customers.
As it integrates the acquisition, Maximus is building its sales and business development organizations so that it can better compete with the "big boys" as Romeo calls them.
He readily admits the company cannot sneak under the radar anymore.

Why stakeholder engagement matters to your business Jun 25, 2019

Programs and projects often go off the rails because of a lack of communication between contractor and customer. Learning the skills you need identify and engage with your stakeholders is critical for your customer's success as well as your company's success.
We talk with business development veteran Jim Allen about how program and project managers can engage with their stakeholders. Jim also is the lead instructor for a workshop we have produced on mastering stakeholder engagement.
As he explains in our interview, the concept is pretty straightforward, but doing it effectively takes a lot of hard work.

Bob Lohfeld Jr. and the power of private equity May 29, 2019

Bob Lohfeld Jr. , founder and CEO of Sev1Tech, explains why he sold his mid-tier company to a private equity firm. The decision wasn't about cashing out -- he's not going anywhere -- but the infusion of resources from DFW Capital Partners will give Sev1Tech the ability to accelerate its growth.
The acquisition of Sev1Tech is just one of many involving private equity firms buying mid-tier platforms. And Lohfeld's interview gives us unique insights into why more of these deals are happening in today's market.

Project 38: Reporters' Notebook II Mar 01, 2019

Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman and Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers share their insights on the major happenings in the GovCon market during the first two months of 2019.
From the end of the partial government shutdown to early M&A activity to the prospects of the return of sequestration and what's next for JEDI, Wakeman and Wilkers talk about some of the major factors driving the government market.
These two veteran reporters have talked to some of the leading executives in the market who shared their strategic plans and what might come next in the GovCon space.
Listen as Wakeman and Wilker share what they've learned and what they see coming in 2019.

Project 38: PSC's David Berteau on the shutdown aftermath Feb 21, 2019

We pay another visit with David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, to get his insights on how the GovCon industry is bouncing back from the partial government shutdown and what might come next.

Berteau shares what he has been hearing from his member companies and he puts the recovery into three buckets:

Immediate damage caused by lost revenue
Lost opportunities because of the shutdown
The long-term damage to recruiting and retaining workers

There is a silver lining in that the government is fully funded now and there is time to win new work and recoup lost revenue before the end of fiscal 2019 on Sept. 30.

But it is paramount for companies to talk to customers now and prepare for any future shutdown, Berteau says. Lay the ground work now for weathering the next shutdown.

He also describes other efforts underway that might ease the pain of a future shutdown.

Project 38: SAIC's Moraco on M&A strategy Feb 05, 2019

In part two of our interview with SAIC's Tony Moraco he shares his views on the extra value he looks for from merger and acquisition targets and how that creates opportunities for growth.
In part one we focused on SAIC's Engility acquisition and in part two we take a broader look at the company's M&A strategy and how SAIC' is organized to pull capabilities from across the company to chase new opportunities.
Moraco also explains how critical mass with a customer is defined and how that measure informs the company's strategy.
Between parts 1 and 2 of our interview with Moraco, you can gain valuable insights into what SAIC is doing and how it reflects broader trends in the GovCon market.

Project 38: SAIC's Moraco on the Engility acquisition Jan 30, 2019

Listen to our interview with SAIC CEO Tony Moraco as he shares how buying Engility accelerates SAIC's strategy, what its integration plan is, and where he sees opportunities for growth.
Moraco shares about lessons learned from SAIC's acquisition of Scitor and how Engility brings SAIC critical mass in the intelligence and space markets.
He also talks about what he sees as the key factors that will drive SAIC's success over the next several years.
This is part 1 of a two-part podcast. In part 2, Moraco shares more about SAIC's goals and strategic approach to the market.

Project 38: Tom Davis on politics and procurement Jan 22, 2019

In part 2 of our two-part interview with former Rep. Tom Davis, the congressman shares his views on procurement, politics and what he would do if he were king.
Davis sees some things in the contracting market going well but a lot of things not working. There is paralysis on Capitol Hill but he sees a light at the end of the tunnel -- the return of earmarks.
He explains how earmarks can break the gridlock in Congress as well as be a tool for fostering more innovation. He also thinks contracting officers need more authority and the ability to make the best deals for the government and taxpayers.
All of this would spell good news for contractors but they need to focus on their business case and the mission of their customer.

Project 38: Tom Davis' shutdown insights Jan 16, 2019

Listen in on our recent conversation with former Republican Congressman Tom Davis and get his insights on the government shutdown and what he would suggest as a way out.
Davis led a variety of efforts focused on improving contracting and procurement during his time as a congressman from Virginia and he sees the current shutdown as a no-win situation both parties.
The dysfunction in Congress being driven by a lack of tools that can foster bipartisanship, such as earmarks, Davis said. Without these kinds of tools, there is no incentive for members to work together on issues and find solutions that can benefit both sides.
Davis also describes how the GOP and the Democrats s risk damaging their standing with their base if they give in on funding for a wall along the southern border.
An answer could lie in finding something that both parties value and building an agreement from there. Davis has a suggestion but the question is will anyone listen?

Project 38: PSC's David Berteau on contractors weathering the shutdown Jan 11, 2019

In this interview Professional Services Council President and CEO David Berteau shares what he is hearing from industry on the impact of the government shutdown and steps contractors should be taking now to get ready for when the government reopens. Whenever that is.
Government contractors have been sharing a sense of confusion and uncertainty with Berteau and PSC as the government shutdown pushes into its fourth week.
Contractors who are working are uncertain if and when they'll get paid. Contractors who aren't are faced with the challenge of hanging onto employees while customer sites are shuttered and projects languish.
The uncertainty also extends to what to do when the government reopens. As Berteau says, you can stop work in five minutes but it might take days to restart.

Project 38: Reporters Notebook Dec 20, 2018

Washington Technology Senior Staff Writer Ross Wilkers joins Editor Nick Wakeman in a review of the major trends and issues driving today's market, including major acquisitions, procurement trends and what JEDI says about contracting today.
They take a look back at 2018 and discuss how the market is transforming. A major talking point is how the influx of commercial technologies is changing business models and the need for traditional contractors to adapt. They also discuss why having a healthy stable of public companies is important for the government market.

Project 38: Diana Gowen and the telecom pivot Nov 28, 2018

Whether you are talking FTS 2001, Networx or the EIS contract, few people know the ins and outs of the government telecommunications market like Diana Gowen, the leader of MetTel’s federal business and a veteran of CenturyLink, Qwest, MCI and AT&T.
She shares her views on how the market has changed and how it hasn't and why partnerships and bringing solutions to your customers are fundamental to success in the government market.

Project 38: Dan Helfrich and the end of traditional IT Oct 08, 2018

Deloitte's Dan Helfrich shares his views on how the migration to the cloud, blockchain, machine learning and IT modernization will spell the end of traditional IT services. The changes will impact business models, customer relationship, partnerships and hiring for the next decade and beyond. Helfrich shares how Deloitte approaches these trends and how the key to success will be successfully combining people and technology assets. To maintain and gain market share companies need to master that combination.

Project 38: Steve Harris and the Modernization Challenge Sep 21, 2018

In Episode 5 of the Project 38 podcast we talk to Steve Harris, senior vice president and general manager of Dell EMC about IT modernization and digital transformation and how the market is changing for primes, their partners and most importantly their customers.
Government agencies are desperate to modernize their IT infrastructure and systems and, according to Harris, the solutions are there. But contractors face the challenge of disrupting themselves and their business models to bring next generation solutions to their customers.

Project 38: John Wood and the innovation challenge Aug 22, 2018

In episode 4, we talk to John Wood, CEO of Telos Corp. as we continue our exploration of innovation and disruption in the government market. John shares his views on the challenges and obstacles to bringing innovation to the government market. He brings nearly 30 years of government contracting experience and holds the the point of view that the challenges to innovation aren't about the technology but the culture and the vested interests that resist change.

Project 38: David Kriegman and managing through disruption Jul 03, 2018

In this episode, we explore disruption in the market and the keys to managing and thriving through times of great change with our guest is David Kriegman, former executive with SRA International and author of Zero to A Billion, the story of how SRA become a government contractor with more than $1 billion in annual revenue.
Many talk about how today's market undergoing great change and disruption. There are new competitors, new customer demands and new technologies that are creating fundamental shifts in how business is conducted in the federal market.
But as Kriegman quickly points out, this is the first time the market has undergone a period of disruption. But there are principles for managing change so join the discussion in our latest episode of the Project 38 podcast.

Project 38: John Hillen and the maturity of the market May 31, 2018

In this episode, our guest is John Hillen, former CEO of Sotera Defense Solutions and current Executive in Residence and Professor of Practice at George Mason University’s School of Business. In our conversation we explore the evolution of the market and how the changes of the last decade are accelerating competition and creating a more open and transparent market as we move forward.
But hurdles remain – too many regulations, too many entrenched incumbents, too many customer focused on requirements instead of outcomes – that discourage new entrants and new business models.
Hear Hillen’s strategic advice on where CEOs and other leaders should focus their attention and what their priorities should be.

Project 38: A Market at the Crossroads May 09, 2018

Our guest is Stan Soloway, former president and CEO of the Professional Services Council and founder of Celero Strategies. Soloway sees a market at the crossroads with new ways of doing business emerging and many traditional government contractors being challenged to change their ways or be left behind.

Soloway brings a perspective from both inside government based on his time inside government as a high-raking Defense Department official as well as his decade and a half of leading PSC and being the voice for industry.

The challenge for customer and contractor is grasping the technological disruptions in the market and understanding what that means for their customers and employees as well as the future.