WT 360: The market from all angles

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

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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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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.

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