2012 is here, and with it comes big changes for the Federal IT industry. WashingtonExec gave local executives the opportunity to share their thoughts on where they see the government contracting industry headed.
Mark HuYoung, Partner at Northwind Partners, reflected on this past year and gave WashingtonExec his outlook for the year ahead.
Mark HuYoung: 2011 was a year largely characterized by tenuousness and uncertainty in the broader government contracting community. Our position as a human capital consultancy to companies and enterprise leaders doing business in this market provided a unique and intimate perspective. The majority of senior leaders I conversed and met with throughout this year shared a reasonable level of anxiety and weariness balanced by an attitude of optimism and determination to making their organizations leaner and more responsive to changes and customers in 2012. In this contracting market, organizations that have repositioned to aggressively take market share from their competitors will be in the catbird seat. The most successful companies will balance that short term, tactical focus with consistent strategic evaluation of potential adjacencies for their products and solutions. The attitude toward collaboration has also become increasingly positive. It is a priority for organizations working to come up with new avenues for growth, even those that had previously been indifferent or resistant.
M&A activity will continue in a steady fashion and it’s always fun to guess who will buy or sell! An increasing number of financial sponsors are looking for appropriate opportunities to enter this market. Strategic entities are working to reshape their businesses for success in the coming years. Although health, cyber, and ISR continue to be major areas of focus, from a talent perspective, we have actually seen an increase in the number of senior roles we are being retained to fill across the entire government contracting market. Clients want to be challenged to consider new, different, or creative avenues to find executives who can genuinely impact, grow, take market share, and transform their businesses in a tough, competitive environment. What worked for the past ten years, won’t work for the next ten.