Melissa Palmer
President, HashiCorp
In her first year and a half as president of HashiCorp’s public sector business, Melissa Palmer’s charter was to replicate the company’s private sector successes in the public sector market, helping customers modernize and scale their use of cloud technologies.
Her initial focus was to revamp how HashiCorp supports its public sector customers with the addition of key positions, fulfilled by talented people. Palmer and her team have made great strides during this first year and a half together as a team, and she is proud of their work securing spots on strategic contract vehicles including SEWP V, ITES-SW2, the GSA Multiple Award Schedule and DOD ESI.
One project that exemplifies HashiCorp’s public sector work was helping overhaul ManTech’s security stance to better protect defense and intelligence customers. HashiCorp automated manual processes across the organization, eliminating 400 work hours per year previously spent manually managing credentials. The system HashiCorp created follows zero trust principles and meets CMMC Level 2 requirements, further supporting a stronger security stance for ManTech.
“I’m really proud of the work our team has done to date to introduce HashiCorp into the public sector and make an immediate difference in how agencies secure their clouds and workloads,” Palmer said. “Serving this market is so gratifying knowing you are supporting people who dedicate their careers to defending our freedom.”
Why Watch
In 2024, Palmer and her team are heavily focused on helping government agencies realize the potential of digital transformation to improve citizen experience and mission outcomes.
The road to transformation is hard, and HashiCorp’s aim is to help smooth the way. Beyond implementing solutions, they are focused on helping to build best practices for secure cloud use and zero trust implementation. HashiCorp recently developed HashiCorp Validated Designs, which provides best practices for deploying and operating HashiCorp products, making it easier to get started with the company’s solutions and helping to share best practices for cloud across government.
“Melissa’s leadership, drive, and passion are the reason for HashiCorp’s fast and dynamic introduction and growth in the public sector market,” said Tim Silk, director of solutions engineering at HashiCorp Federal Inc. “Her knowledge and ability to work collaboratively with contractors and agency teams has enabled our solutions to make a rapid and meaningful mark on securing public sector IT modernization efforts.”
Fun fact: Palmer has a deep passion for horses and equestrian sports. She trained and competed to the highest level possible, International Grand Prix dressage (an Olympic sport)… think ballet on horseback.