Government Sales Insider - page 2

The 2018 immixGroup Government IT Sales Summit has come to an end. Despite an unwelcomed surprise from mother nature, hundreds of suppliers, partners, systems integrators and government employees flocked to the event to attend sessions, share knowledge and network. A diverse array of topics was discussed, and while content varied from room to room, many consistencies were noticeable.

Source: Summing Up the Government IT Sales Summit | Government Sales Insider

DOD IT priorities are shifting from restoring readiness to modernization. Read more about where DOD is investing.

Source: How the DOD’s FY19 Modernization Priorities Align to Technology

Social media has made it possible to connect with potential customers and partners from afar — without TSA close encounters, battling beltway traffic or even picking up the phone. The sales profession has changed immeasurably over the last decade or two, but one thing has not – the value of face-to-face communication in building and strengthening relationships.

Source: Strong Relationships: Foundation of Successful Business | Government Sales Insider

If you have genuinely transformational technology, public sector IT executives may be willing to listen now more than ever.

In August, public and private sector officials held a series of short discussions on government IT and procurement, emphasizing innovation in everything from protecting critical assets to reforming acquisition methods.

Here are three top takeaways

Source: Transformation May Be Your Foot in the Door for Federal Sales | Government Sales Insider

The end of another government fiscal year means another September, with all the craziness and excitement that it brings. As we’ve noted before, the government doles out an average of 40 percent of its annual IT expenditure in the final month of the fiscal year. In fact, given the relatively late arrival of this year’s appropriations, we might see that share go up this year. The conditions are ripe for a hectic four-week period, where we should all expect long hours to make sure every order gets filled.

Source: Truths and Lies About Year-End Funding | Government Sales Insider

Every program manager and acquisition professional in DOD has been leveraging the newest buzzword: OTA, which stands for Other Transaction Authority. OTAs have been in the acquisition arsenal for years, but Congress just recently relaxed rules and restrictions on their use, paving the way for OTAs to be the new hot method for rapid technology insertion and piloting. The Office of the Undersecretary of Acquisition and Sustainment recently has been working on an OTA handbook to help guide DOD acquisition professionals on the do’s and don’ts of this newly revitalized procurement method. It’s no surprise we’re starting to see the use of more and more OTAs.

Source: OTAs Are Heating Up in the DOD | Government Sales Insider

The Continuous Diagnostic and Mitigation (CDM) program has gone through a lot of changes since it was first launched in 2013. And, each step of the way seems to make the program easier for companies to participate.

The program’s latest change allows companies to include Small Business to be part of CDM and play a bigger role in the program. As the program moves into its next phases, this could be a huge opportunity for companies that have not historically been able to participate.

Source: Huge Opportunity Opens Up for Small Business on CDM | Government Sales Insider

The federal government spends upwards of $90 billion every year on IT. By June, a surprising amount of the budget remains unspent and unobligated. And every year around this time, technology vendors hope to cash in on the year-end money the federal government must spend by the end of the fiscal year — September 30.

Source: The Truth About Federal Year-End Money | Government Sales Insider

Over the course of this series, we’ve covered a lot of the ins and outs of government contracting in the IT and COTS space.

Of course, the government buys products and services across the full range of the American economy, in addition to its role in monitoring, reporting on and regulating American industry. That led to the need for a classification system to bucket American companies based on the service or product they provide – the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).

Source: What is NAICS? | Government Sales Insider

I have worked with immixGroup’s suppliers and partners on a wide range of federal agencies and their IT requirements and buying patterns. And one department consistently stands out as the most commonly asked about: Health and Human Services (HHS).

Source: How to capture more IT business from HHS in FY18 | Government Sales Insider