It appears once again that the 20/20 vision of hindsight has made its presence felt.

Determining how to enter the Federal government marketplace for the first time is a challenging process for any company. As such, many companies find subcontracting to a government prime contractor to be the most effective method, as well as the path of least resistance. While this method can be an excellent option for companies new to the Federal marketplace, it can also come with difficulties. One of the most common complaints among government prime subcontractors revolves around late payments.

The success of the top 50 fastest growing Federal contractors of 2012 reveals small businesses can not only compete, but also dominate a tough market. Every year Washington Technology ranks contractors by their growth, which reminds us, that success “in this market, it is also about resiliency and diversity.” According to Washington Technology in order to be considered, “companies submit five years of government contracting revenue, which is used to determine a five-year compound annual growth rate. The companies are then ranked by that rate, not by overall revenue.” Additionally, “companies must be a small business according to one of the myriad small-business categories the government uses.” [1]

An ever growing area of concern within Federal, State and Local governments is how to manage mobile devices securely- and how implement a policy allowing employees to use whichever device(s) they’d like. As these devices and applications become critical to an organization’s success, IT is challenged with efficiently managing the full lifecycle management of devices across the enterprise. Mobile Device Management provides IT organizations the control they need to securely manage mobile devices throughout their entire lifecycle, simplifying these processes across multiple device types and mobile operating systems in a single console. With discovery, configuration, apps, and policy management, organizations now have the peace of mind that their mobile devices, critical data, and networks are secure from potential threats.

Despite rumors of a looming fiscal cliff and a harsh reality for contractors, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the General Services Administration (GSA) are finalizing major IT acquisitions. These two technology contracts are expected to exceed $5 billion and $1.5 billion respectively. The VA is looking to award funding by September 30th and the GSA is releasing an RFI this week for continuous monitoring systems.

As our economy continues to struggle, there is now a direct pressure being placed on the Federal market place. What was once thought of as an unlimited market of selling opportunity is now scheduled to be forcibly reduced by 10% in FY 2013, thanks to the 'sequestration' measures mandating automatic cuts across the Federal government. During this time of Federal market constriction, it is even more critical to be smart about how an organization approaches Federal sales. The GSA reports that 1 out of every 3 new contract awardees does not earn any revenue in their first three years, and the number one reason for this failure to perform is a lack of strategic planning.