Serving The Nation's Needs

In recent years, many vendors have allocated more personnel and other resources in their professional services groups to developing bids for and implementing e-government solutions.

Silicon Graphics, for example, has sold its high-end workstations into federal accounts for two decades, but only created its SGI Federal division three years ago, according to Lang Craighill, general manager of the unit.

"We call on systems integrators, and we call on the government," Craighill said. "We have [sales reps that do hardware sales and others that really focus on professional services sales."

BMC Software formed its professional services unit three years ago and expects to hire more people in the next six months, said Joe Launi, the professional services manager for BMC's federal business.

The company's professional services team sometimes brings in partners such as ITE and Control Solutions for specialized subcontracting on federal accounts, Launi said.

Vendors also rely on their product sales reps, whom Craighill calls the eyes and ears of the services sales groups. "When the time comes to do a proposal with third-party [products, we bring in the professional services salespeople" to help create a cogent plan for the federal client, he said.

Sun's entry into the federal space was similar to SGI's. "The first Sun workstations were sold into government agencies with three-letter acronyms," said Dan Hushon, director of Sun Professional Services' Java Centers, alluding to Sun's ties to intelligence organizations such as the National Security Agency.

At the 19 current Java Centers, Sun is now focusing on knowledge transfer to help customers become self-sufficient with Sun technologies, Hushon said, adding that Sun PS relies on channel partners to penetrate and broaden existing relationships within the federal market.

One federal account where Sun PS has helped in a solution implementation is the U.S. Military Traffic Management Command, or MTMC.

Lana Stormant, a computer systems engineer at MTMC, Alexandria, Va., said that working with Sun PS "brings a fresh perspective that sometimes we don't have time to develop or even think about in our day-to-day business."

Sun PS, which is helping MTMC build a wireless application that will let military personnel direct and move food and equipment to soldiers, "brings an integration capacity that allows us to leverage some of our old legacy systems with very minor expense," Stormant said.

That kind of leading-edge wireless application is more prevalent in federal agencies than one might think, professional services executives said.

"I wouldn't say the government is stodgy," said Tom Burlin, vice president of the 2,500-person federal division of IBM Global Services' public sector group. "I've seen private [companies that could be characterized as risk-averse."

More often than not these days, services sales lead client engagements, with product sales following, Burlin said. IBM sold its federal group in 1993 to Loral Space and Communications, establishing a new group in 2000; since then, the focus has been on selling the government applications based on proven commercial solutions, he said.

The feds "have also shifted the procurement laws, [making them more favorable" to solutions priced for the best value and to contracts earned on the basis of performance, Burlin said.

Juergen Rottler, vice president of marketing at Hewlett-Packard's services group, said that increasing the number of staffers tackling federal work is of paramount importance. "Our No. 4 vertical industry is government," he said. "We see tremendous growth right now, and we'll put more head count into the government space."