WT 360: The market from all angles
228 episodes - English - Latest episode: 14 days ago - ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsWT 360 is where the conversation takes place on what’s driving the federal government market now and where the sector is going. Editor-In-Chief Nick Wakeman and Senior Staff Reporter Ross Wilkers look at the market from all angles through interviews with industry executives and informed observers of the sector.
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Episodes
The NDAA is both law and a business roadmap
April 15, 2024 10:00 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBOnce 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 contract...
Defense One's Lauren Williams on the Pentagon's new cyber-industrial strategy
April 08, 2024 10:00 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBThe 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. Laure...
GovCon needs to watch the push against noncompetes too
April 01, 2024 10:00 - 28 minutes - 26 MBIt 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...
NextGov/FCW's Natalie Alms on modernization challenges
March 25, 2024 10:00 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBThe 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 the...
Steps to take now as you prepare for CMMC
March 18, 2024 10:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBThe 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 th...
Everfox hits the street with focus on government, critical infrastructure
March 11, 2024 10:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MBRebrandings 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 ...
LMI's logistics heritage also informs its present and future
March 04, 2024 11:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBLMI 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 conversat...
M&A is not only for the biggest players
February 26, 2024 11:00 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MBThe 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 ac...
All about SMX's digital transformation thesis
February 20, 2024 11:00 - 34 minutes - 32 MBSMX 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 ...
How GovCon's 'Rule of Two' is poised to grow in scope
February 12, 2024 11:00 - 14 minutes - 13.7 MBMultiple-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 episod...
CMMC lessons from the voluntary assessment program
February 05, 2024 11:00 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBThe 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, dire...
How the auto industry informs DMI's federal strategy
January 29, 2024 11:00 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MBDMI 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 wh...
How emerging tech drives change across the market and more mission focus
January 22, 2024 11:00 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBThe 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...
A look inside GovCon's crystal ball for 2024
January 16, 2024 11:00 - 34 minutes - 31.1 MBGetting 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 ou...
The drivers of M&A in 2023 and what lies ahead
December 18, 2023 11:00 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBWe 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...
An initial glimpse at 2024's GovCon budget and policy landscape
December 13, 2023 11:00 - 37 minutes - 33.9 MBAn 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,...
ASRC Federal's vision highlighted by supply chain, tech and talent
December 06, 2023 11:00 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBA 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 Wilke...
A roadmap to knowing the customer's buyer profile
November 27, 2023 11:00 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBPrice 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 developm...
All about AE Industrial Partners and its GovCon investing approach
November 15, 2023 11:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBAerospace, 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...
How artificial intelligence can help make better proposals
November 08, 2023 17:00 - 33 minutes - 30.7 MBGenerative 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 Scie...
All about how OTA contracts really work
October 23, 2023 10:00 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MBOther 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 a...
Budget disconnects and opportunities define today's federal market landscape
October 10, 2023 04:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBThe 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 throu...
RTX Ventures casts its net wide and far across an expanding tech ecosystem
September 18, 2023 10:00 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MBMore 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 ...
For Lockheed's ventures team, its investments are merely step one
September 05, 2023 10:00 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBThe 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 commit...
All about Amentum's tech strategy and 2 key legs of it
August 28, 2023 10:00 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBAmentum'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 Amentu...
People are at the center of all cyber talk
August 21, 2023 10:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBCybersecurity 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 suc...
IBM's blueprint for making a bigger impact across public sector
August 07, 2023 10:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBIBM 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 pres...
What 2023's economy means for GovCon
July 26, 2023 10:00 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBSome 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 P...
All about Empower AI's shift to solutions
July 19, 2023 10:00 - 27 minutes - 25 MBWith 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...
Deloitte's view of how tech implementation, integration and consulting go together
July 13, 2023 10:00 - 36 minutes - 33 MBDeloitte'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 Delo...
BAE sees teaming as foundational to its success
July 10, 2023 10:00 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBBAE 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 explai...
The tech and investment threads of Noblis 'Vision 2030'
June 14, 2023 10:00 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBNoblis' 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 recrui...
WT 360's Info Session dissects the 2023 Top 100
June 08, 2023 20:06 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBEdition 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 c...
Ultra I&C's gameplan for its new private equity era
June 01, 2023 10:00 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBAdvent 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 ...
ICF's vision for its tech office goes beyond ones and zeros
May 22, 2023 17:52 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBICF 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 ...
All about AT&T's public sector strategy and today's 5G landscape
May 18, 2023 20:13 - 31 minutes - 29 MBAT&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 invest...
Our snap reax to Jacobs' spinoff plan
May 10, 2023 16:58 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MBFor 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 a...
WT 360's Info Session unpacks the government's two biggest health tech efforts
May 05, 2023 10:00 - 43 minutes - 39.6 MBA 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 th...
What are V2X's next big steps?
April 24, 2023 10:00 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MBVectrus 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 integrati...
All about Arcfield's strategy and investment thesis
April 19, 2023 10:00 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBArcfield 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 Verita...
WT 360's Info Session: The largest Navy conference, banking, cyber, and figuring out JADC2
April 12, 2023 20:32 - 45 minutes - 42 MBMilitary 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 go...
BigBear's agenda for itself and the AI market
March 22, 2023 14:00 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBBigBear.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. ...
How Aeyon chose its investor and where it wants to go
March 15, 2023 14:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBAeyon 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 c...
All about GSA's 'MAS-sive' contract consolidation
March 07, 2023 14:20 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBOne 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 r...
WT 360's Info Session: Leidos' CEO transition and troubles with two big contracts
March 01, 2023 20:39 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBBusiness 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. Wh...
Getting SBIR tech into the mainstream still has challenges
February 22, 2023 15:00 - 14 minutes - 13.5 MBThis 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...
Info Session: New climate reporting rule, best-in-class contracts and workforce matters
February 13, 2023 11:00 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBAcquisition 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...
Jacobs' third wave is all about data and tech
February 08, 2023 15:00 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBJacobs 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 Wilke...
Amentum in the implementation phase of its strategy
January 31, 2023 17:17 - 33 minutes - 30.7 MBAmentum 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 t...
Macrotrends and discussion starters poised to shape 2023
January 18, 2023 15:00 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBWhat 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...