WashingtonExec 2013 Government Contracting Outlook Series:
The new year brings big changes for the Federal IT industry, and WashingtonExec is back with its Government Contracting Industry Outlook Series.
We are giving local executives the opportunity to share their thoughts on where they see our industry headed this year and beyond. Leaders were asked a series of questions focused on cloud computing, healthcare IT, defense, mobility, and more.
John Fraser is President and Chief Operating Officer of ASM Research, and spoke with us about his predictions for the new year. We also interviewed him last summer.
WashingtonExec: What will next year hold for Government Contracting?
John Fraser: The face of Government Contracting as we have known it over the past few years is changing – and that change will continue in 2013. The Government is a large buyer and will wield their buying power to drive lower cost, higher returns and significant expectations from the market. The technology space will accelerate as technology will become a critical success factor to savings across the multiple Government domains which are complimentary. Budget cuts in IT programs will occur however the programs with limited success will be abandoned to yield the savings. Successful programs will endure. With Healthcare reform now in place, industry must adjust to fully support a more open and sharing Healthcare information landscape. Mobility and Mobile Government IT is essential for success in the future). Building applications and solutions only for traditional desktop style computers is insuring obsolescence. Efficiency and best value need to be taken over almost any other consideration – especially Lowest Price Technical Acceptable (LPTA), which often does not end up being LPTA upon delivery.
WashingtonExec: What shape will collaboration take between industry and government in addressing tough issues: Healthcare, Defense, Big Data, Mobility, Cloud, etc?
John Fraser: With looming budget cuts and overall public sentiment towards more efficient Government services, industry and Government will come to an agreement on meaningful and cost effective advancements of IT that move towards a more connected ecosystem. Industry will dispense with inconspicuous buzz words and stop pushing the hot technology of the day to focus on solving real efficiency and communications problems. Architecting IT systems with a pragmatic approach to new technology and pervasive IT excellence will build a solid Government IT infrastructure on which to build future growth.
Collaboration is paramount for the Government in properly addressing the issues to deploy the next generation of technology and it will be critical for industry in delivering solutions. The form in which industry and government successfully collaborate will vary based on the technical focus. The implementation of change in a downward budgetary pressure environment (Defense, Healthcare, etc.) and the adoption of technological innovation (Big Data, Mobility, Cloud, etc.) under a myriad of constraints and varied degrees of IT maturity throughout Government will be a challenge. I expect you will see closer and more frequent collaboration between industry and Government in adopting technology innovations. This collaboration will be fostered by embracing agile methodologies to deliver and implement production-ready incremental solutions. Ironically, some of these innovations like Social Media, Cloud, and Mobility, when they become ubiquitous in Government, will shape collaboration of industry and Government in ways we are only beginning to perceive today.
