WT 360: The market from all angles

Latest Episodes:

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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