Public Sector Push: The IT ChannelVision Government Confab

With the holiday spirit coming on in full at the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton, Fla., Everything Channel's IT ChannelVision Government event brought public sector IT channel executives together to talk about the issues that will shape public sector IT spending in 2010 and beyond.





Here's a look at some of the key moments from the show, as well as a recap of the 2009 ITCV Government Awards.

In a session titled "Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way!" public sector IT veteran Scott Hastings urged integrators to rethink their strategies in selling to the public sector. Hastings, a partner in the consultancy Deep Water Point, said that integrators stuck in old ways of doing business "would not even recognize" federal procurement in five years, because the rules for technology procurement are entering a state of constant change.

Vince Menzione, general manager of the U.S. Public Sector Partners program for Microsoft, said public sector VARs would see ample opportunity for hardware and software refresh in government and education, thanks to the arrival of Windows 7.

Rishi Sood, Gartner vice president and head of public sector programs, said in a research keynote that government integrators were right to be skeptical about the federal stimulus' effect on IT spending.





"A pot of gold? Not in your wildest dreams," Sood said, explaining how only about $22 billion to $32 billion of the $787.2 billion stimulus had an effect on IT spending. About 60 percent of that, Sood added, goes to state and local government projects.

Tiffani Bova, a Gartner vice president and channel researcher, predicted that in the next decade, cloud adoption would be as a hybrid model: on-premise and off-premise.





"You need to be thinking about the skill sets you require to be successful in alternative delivery models," Bova said. "This is something that's going to be a significant change in your business. But this is also an area in our public sector system where some agencies are better than others at leveraging the cloud."

"When we first started talking about green, we talked about crazy stuff like how we're going to charge up garbage and make it run computers," said Motorola's Janet Schijns. "Now we're talking about stuff that's reasonable. GPS systems that can save individuals $1,600 a year in fuel, for example. Reasonable green. That's what's making it across the chasm. Green is mainstream now. You're either on the bus or not on the bus."





Schijns, vice president of global channels for Motorola, urged solution providers to think and act green as much as possible. Truly green-savvy VARs are a rarity at the moment, she said, and are thus in high demand as public sector customers consider things like energy consumption when buying technology.

Continuing a tradition of wide-ranging interviews with various panelists at Everything Channel's public sector-focused events, Everything Channel Vice President of Strategic Content Robert C. DeMarzo, convened public sector IT experts to offer an outlook for 2010.

A panel of public sector integrators and consultants urged government VARs to specialize as much as possible as they try to win public sector opportunity. Look for contract vehicles that won't change regardless of who's in office, they advised, and look for partnering opportunities that often let smaller VARs subcontract with global integrators.



The panel included (left to right) Jim Fraser, account director at HP Enterprise Services (formerly EDS); Paul Karch, president and CEO of Gardant Global; Linwood Jolly, president and CEO of Comm-Group; and Greg Rothwell, president of Evermay Consulting Group.

"The term Web 2.0 makes me bristle a bit because it makes it sound like it's the first time any of this has been tried," said Greg Rothwell, president of Evermay Consulting Group, a federal IT contracting consultancy. "We've been seeing a move toward government of a decentralized nature for a while. The best thing to do -- you'll be much better off -- is to strategically pick those agencies you really want to target."





Good advice from someone who knows; Rothwell spent 30 years in government procurement, including a stint as top procurement officer for the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

The ITCV Government solutions pavilion and exhibit hall was buzzing, with vendors like Fortinet available to discuss how specific solution sets could best be utilized by VARs with an interest in public sector. Fortinet's Jeff Lake, vice president of federal operations, chatted up many a passerby.

Fran Harrington, director of government sales for Eaton Powerware, urged solution providers to look at all the power consumption and data center difficulty in government enterprise -- and understand what an opportunity power consumption is.

Unisys CISO Patricia Titus urged technology providers to "trust, but verify" on cloud computing solutions. Titus, the former CISO at the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, said that despite perceptions that interest had waned, cybersecurity remained a top priority of the Obama White House.





"While it looks like business as usual, I will tell you that it's not," she said. "There looks like there's been no movement, but I will tell you right now that cybersecurity strategy is being written. Legislators have stepped up to the plate. Activities are happening."

Several solution providers grabbed a quick refresher or two at the opening night cocktail reception. From left to right: Kuldeep Dhar, CEO of BancSoft, St. Louis Park, Minn.; Jeffrey Goldberg, president of Washington Computer Services, Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Manuel Villa, president of VIA Technology, San Antonio, Texas.

The IT ChannelVision Government Awards honored vendors in seven categories for their excellence in public sector programs, channel engagement in specific public sector markets and strength of presentations at the conference.

VMware's Director of Sales, Public Sector Channel Alex Hart accepted the award for Best Public Sector Solution. Hart's seen here with Everything Channel Program Director, Sonja Williams.

Awards for Best Presentation and Best Public Sector Partner Program went to Motorola, whose Scott Firmstone, channel account manager, accepted from Williams.

Symantec was a big winner, picking up accolades for Best State/Local Channel Strategy and Best Federal Channel Strategy. Symantec Senior Director of Public Sector Channel Sales Tom Gillman, seen here with Williams, made a number of trips to the podium.

The much buzzed-about upstart eFolder took honors in the category of Best Revenue Generator. Jan Spring, eFolder's vice president of channel development, collected the award from Williams.

Symantec took top honors at IT ChannelVision Government, winning the award for Best of Show. Gillman returned to the podium, flanked by DeMarzo, Williams and Everything Channel Assistant Managing Editor Chad Berndtson.