Victor Vella is the Federal Business Development Manager for Panasonic North America where he develops new business, is responsible for strategic planning and supports the company’s sales teams that work with the federal market.
Vella’s anti terrorism and law enforcement background spans 30 years. Prior to joining Panasonic, he served as the director of the anti terrorism services program for the Department of Defense. He is currently recognized as a subject matter expert in anti-terrorism and terrorism vulnerability and risk analysis.
WashingtonExec recently asked Vella about his extensive security solutions background, his thoughts on mobility and how to maintain cybersecurity standards while maintaining government innovation.
WashingtonExec: How did your antiterrorism background affect your decision to do what you do now? Why did you decide to move from the public to the private sector?
Victor Vella: My 30 years experience working for the feds provides me with the insight and understanding that is needed to improve federal business. The time I spent as a federal employee offers me the ability to quickly understand the direction in which the federal government is going especially as it relates to terrorism, and physical and electronic security which is currently my primary focus. I decided to retire as a FED at a relatively young age so I could devote another 10 to 15 years in a second career. I knew I had a lot to offer a private company and I felt my background and experience would be desirable within the private sector. Working for Panasonic, this theory has proven to be accurate.
WashingtonExec: Mobility means a lot of different things to different people. How do you define it?
Victor Vella: As you say mobility means a lot of things to a lot of people. From my view, mobility is the ability to remotely communicate data through the technologies that Panasonic offers the federal vertical, including the US military. Mobile computing products such as Toughbook and Toughpad are heavily used in both environments offering the highest quality, best total cost of ownership, an excellent return on investment.
WashingtonExec: Where do you see the balance between bringing innovation to government and maintaining current cybersecurity standards?
Victor Vella: In my world working closely with the federal government I have to be continually cognizant of policies, regulatory requirements and legislature that is continually changing as it relates to cyber security, supply chain security, and best practices. Companies that do not track, follow, and/or trend these issues quickly fall behind the curve. Technological innovations must follow these practices in order to be a better provider of services to the federal government who continually strive to improve cybersecurity due to the continual threat associated with cyber attacks to include cyber terrorism.
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“For domestic, non-military agencies we are seeing a lot of growth in security and surveillance technologies, integrated systems, and mobility/tablet computers.”
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WashingtonExec: What’s your piece of advice for current federal CTOs and CIOs faced with a constrained budget? How should they move forward in this environment?
Victor Vella: When evaluating a potential purchase it really comes down to total cost of ownership (TCO). There are multiple factors that impact the true cost of a product beyond the price. Additional costs can include maintenance, warranty, and repair costs over the lifecycle of the product. The best strategy is to put sufficient emphasis on all of the above and select a product knowing what the hard and soft costs will be for the long term. Based on all of that information you can determine what product best meets your specific needs and delivers the strongest return-on-investment or ROI.
WashingtonExec: Where are you currently seeing market growth?
Victor Vella: For domestic, non-military agencies we are seeing a lot of growth in security and surveillance technologies, integrated systems, and mobility/tablet computers. In fact, we’re seeing a migration to tablets across all agencies in the Federal Government because they deliver the right capabilities and performance in a highly mobile form factor, giving users the flexibility they want and need in any situation.
WashingtonExec: What keeps you up at night?
Victor Vella: To be frank with you I really do not have any issues that keep me up at night but what I have learned in my 30 years working as a FED specializing in national security is to not take your job home with you and to separate work from family time. I firmly believe that family is the most important thing in life, If anything were to keep me up at night it would be my paternal concerns related to the well being of my children and their children. They and my wife of 25 years are the most important aspects of my life.
