Tackling the Government Market

Over the past decade, the U.S. government steadily has increased its reliance on IT to become more efficient, reduce costs and add new capabilities. In the aggregate (federal + state + local), government entities are expected to invest more than $133 billion in IT this year. Even with intense budgetary pressures, the government market represents one of the largest verticals for IT products and services.

Like any market vertical, the government space has its own unique needs, requirements and nuances. CompTIA’s recent 2^nd Annual Government IT Purchase Plans delves into the details of “what, why and how” of government technology investments. A few key takeaways:

1. Top challenges facing governments include: reduced budgets (73%), difficulty implementing change (70%), dealing with outdated IT systems (46%), technology interoperability across agencies (46%), cybersecurity threats (44%) and lack of IT expertise (40%).


2. Top IT initiatives for the next 12 months include: data backup and recovery, security, virtualization (data center consolidation) and content management. Other emerging technologies such as cloud computing or unified communications solutions were cited as planned initiatives at much higher rates by federal agencies than state or local governments. Conversely, local governments expressed strong interest in mobile solutions to equip their field staff.


3. Training is a key. Many government entities recognize the importance of maintaining a workforce with the highest possible level of skill and expertise. Top training areas include: security, tech support, disaster recovery, networking and project management. Topics such as cloud computing, green IT and social media training are increasingly covered as well.

CompTIA’s research dovetails nicely with a number of government initiatives. The federal government’s CIO, Vivek Kundra, recently released a 25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management. This report stresses a number of shifts in philosophy and process that any IT firm doing business or planning to do business with the government should know. A few notable takeaways from the report:

• Adopt a “cloud first” policy.


• Only approve major IT projects that utilize a modular approach with customer-facing functionality delivered every six months. And, increase the use of specialized IT acquisition professionals.


• Develop a strategy of shared IT services, both across federal agencies but also with other government entities such as state or local governments.

The federal government often gets a bad wrap for inefficiency and opacity, so it should be recognized for its efforts to become more transparent and more effective in its use of resources. The IT Dashboard provides an extensive listings of IT projects underway as well as a status rating. Not only does this provide IT firms clues to the types of projects they may want to pursue, but it’s also a good model for any private sector firm wanting to make IT investments more transparent.

Lastly, the federal government isn’t the only government entity pursuing strategies to further leverage technology. My local government, Alexandria, Va. (just outside of Washington, D.C.), ranked 6^th nationally on the list of Top Digital Cities, an annual awards program sponsored by the Center for Digital Government. IT firms should view the thousands of local governments that did not make the list as potential opportunities to make a difference.

Selling to the government space is not easy, but then again, few verticals are easy. With a little homework and due diligence, IT firms of all sizes can tackle the government market.