Driven by an executive order on cybersecurity and facing an ever-more-perilous threat environment, federal agencies are looking for more robust cybersecurity solutions. At the same time, they need new strategies for ramping up their digital modernization efforts and novel ways to bring cutting-edge capabilities to the fore quicker in support of mission outcomes.
As vice president and general manager of the federal civilian business at Belcan, Adesh Jain is here it help with all of that.
“Seeing the daily evidence that what we do really does impact the federal mission: That’s what makes this work satisfying,” he said.
Belcan is active on the cyber front, providing risk management assessments as well as cyber infrastructure design solutions, to help federal agencies harden their defenses.
“We have many solutions that are helping agencies be more secure,” Jain said.
On the digital modernization front, the firm is focused on supporting the modernization of legacy IT systems and moving them to the cloud.
“There are many government agencies that are still using legacy systems: Either the applications are not modernized, or the overall IT operation is not modernized,” Jain said. “They have applications written in outdated programming languages, and we help to modernize them so that they can be migrated over to the cloud.”
All those apps are churning out data that could improve mission outcomes. With this in mind, Belcan also focuses on data analytics, helping agencies operationalize tools like Tableau and Power BI to visualize the vast stores of data to meet specific agency objectives.
Belcan has invested heavily in its own digital engineering capability.
“We have the ability to create an automated DevSecOps pipeline,” Jain said. With an accelerated and integrated development-security-and-operations workflow, “we can help government agencies to create a quick prototype, to develop applications and help them solve whatever problem they are trying to solve.”
Within the digital engineering practice, Belcan has a software development and integration capability. In addition to building the apps, “we can show how different products can be integrated together, how they can quickly achieve an automated deployment capability,” Jain said.
The firm also has a group working on digital twins, or virtual models of complex systems that can help agencies to improve logistics, training, maintenance and a range of other functions.
The Defense Department already is exploring possible uses for digital twins, “and we see potential on the federal civilian side as well,” Jain said.
With existing engagements in the State Department, the Federal Communications Commission and elsewhere, Belcan already has a well-established presence on the federal civilian side. Those existing relationships could be a launching pad for new digital products and services, Jain said.
To take advantage of those opportunities, Jain is working to stay ahead of the present challenges around recruiting and retention, especially in hot-topic areas like cybersecurity and cloud migration.
“Getting good cyber folks, good cloud folks ⏤ it’s always a challenge within the government contracting environment,” he said.
In the race for talent, Belcan works to stay highly competitive.
“We put people first, especially by providing them with career-growth opportunities,” he said. To that end, “we have something called Belcan University that allows them to take various free trainings, so they can continue upgrading their skills.”
The firm also takes steps to create “a very collaborative, fun environment.” That can be hard to do in the GovCon world, where people are generally working at the client site. With this in mind, Belcan gets proactive.
“We do quarterly social events or all-hands events, to help them stay connected with the company,” Jain said. “That gives us a chance to talk to them about how we can help them be more successful, and it builds that team culture.”
In addition, the company has implemented a buddy program in which every new employee is assigned a buddy “who is very familiar with the program, and with how Belcan can help them be successful in their careers,” he said.
“That resource is available to them throughout their journey, and we’ve found that it definitely helps to keep people engaged,” Jain added.
A 32-year veteran of the GovCon space, Jain said he draws satisfaction from motivating teams in support of the federal mission set.
“Whether it’s helping the Postal Service deliver mail, when I used to work there, or helping the Department of State to secure their infrastructure and satisfy the mission of diplomacy, the biggest motivation is in meeting that government mission, and seeing that daily evidence of how the work we do impacts that mission,” he said.