B2G Blog - Business Development Tools

The business of business development in leaner times

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:57:00 -0400

As talking heads debate how the sequester will affect the economy, companies around the beltway are working to determine how it might damage their bottom line. Will they be directly affected? Will the “trickle down” eventually bite them? It’s very likely that many cannot afford the risk or choose not to take it, so they are looking to cushion any potential blow.

When budgets are tight it is easy to consider Business Development as overhead that should be eliminated; but just like the “trickle down” will eventually bite you, so will reduction of your Business Development resources. Though it may help with short term revenue projections, long-term growth and stability cannot be sacrificed for instant gratification. A thorough understanding of the market, especially when agencies are working tirelessly to rebalance their smaller budgets, is critical in order to get ahead of opportunities and align your internal resources.

Understanding how agencies and their budgets will be affected by the cost cutting and how they plan to absorb these cuts will not only put you ahead of the curve in terms of preparing for upcoming opportunities, but it will also inform you about what has been moved to the backburner. Resources saved are resources earned. For example, as it stands currently, the Navy’s operations and maintenance accounts will be reduced by more than $4B, its IT expenditures will be cut by 25% and at least a half dozen “new start” multi-year procurement projects will be deferred. Anticipating and knowing about these delays will prevent you from wasting business development valuable resources where they are not needed.

GovWin Consulting specializes in understanding each agency’s priorities and can work with your company to help uncover where that department or agency plans to shift its focus and funding. With less budget to go around it is critical to develop an action plan in order to best position your company’s products or solutions. Communicating the values and messages that resonate with your intended audience and understanding their current financial hardships, can be the difference in winning new business. Our team delivers in-depth strategic targeting department and agency solutions tailored to your company’s business priorities and sales goals. For more information concerning GovWin Consulting’s capabilities please visit our website.

Surviving Sequestration: Over $116 Billion in Contracting Opportunities on the Horizon

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:30:00 -0400

Despite the emphasis the tighter budgets agencies face under sequestration, major contract opportunities are continuing to move forward. The sum total for 28 upcoming contracts is $116.142 billion. Of course, small businesses won’t be left out in the cold. Of that total, close to some $17 billion will for be small businesses awards.

Contract Status Key
?	Moving Forward
?	On Hold
X	Cancelled
?	Contracting Office Not Commenting
*	Small Business Opportunity

Note: GovWin IQ login is required to view the reports at the Opportunity ID hyperlinks below.

Agency	Program/Account	Value	Opportunity ID	Status
Air Force	Training System Acquisition Program (TSA III)	$20.9 B	37291	?
Air Force	* Engineering Professional Administrative Support Services (EPASS)	$5.0 B	93515	?
Air Force	*Network-Centric Solutions (NETCENTS II A&AS)	$710 M	48254	?
Air Force	* Technical Data Support Services (TDSS(e))	$467 M	78427	?
Air Force	*Follow On Third Party Logistics Services for Support Equipment Commodity Council (3PL SECC)	$288 M	92288	?
Army	Train Educate and Coach (TEACH)	$8.0 B	69254	?
Army	Space and Missile Defense Technology Design Development Demonstration and Integration (D3I)	$4.9 B	54159	?
Army	Strategic Service Solutions (S3)	$4.0 B	86280	?
Army	Utility Monitoring and Control Systems for Heating Venting and Air Conditioning (UMCS IV) (HVAC)	$2.5 B	80441	?
Army	Technical Information Engineering Services (TIES)	$995 M	69356	?
Army	Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC III)	$1.5 B	78525	?
Army	*Information Management Communications Services (IMCS 3)	$500 M	72006	?
Commerce	* Patent Office Support Services (PTOSS IV)	$252 M	32547	?
Education	Common Services for Borrowers (CSB)	$2.3 B	33550	X
GSA	One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS)	$12.0 B	90928	?
HHS	Health Marketing Communications Services (HMCS)	$870 M	67831	?
HHS	Chief Information Officer Commodity Solutions (CIO-CS)	$10.0 B	47886	?
NASA	Solutions for Enterprisewide Procurement (SEWP V)	$20.0 B	82396	?
NASA	Center Maintenance Operations and Engineering (CMOE)	$971 M	53636	?
NASA	* Marshall Engineering Technicians and Trade Support Services (METTS)	$151 M	53603	?
State	Passport Support Services (PSP)	$570 M	64443	?
State	* Hybrid Information Technology Services for State (HITSS II)	$2.1 B	49544	?
USAID	Encouraging Global Anticorruption and Good Governance Efforts (ENGAGE)	$750 M	83090	?
Defense	Global Network Services (GNS)	---	86970	?
Defense	Defense Systems Technical Area Tasks (DS) (TATs)	$3.0 B	48780	?
Defense	Homeland Defense and Security Technical Area Tasks (HD TATs)	$900 M	48776	?
Defense	* Special Operational Equipment Tailored Vendor Logistics Support Program	$5.7 B	70506	?
DHS	BiowatchGen 3	$3.1 B	68486	?
Navy	Rapid Response Irregular Warfare (RR/IW)	$5.0 B	67883	?
Navy	Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services Full Deployment Production Units (CANES)	$1.0 B	50287	?

Source: Deltek

Many of Deltek’s opportunity analysts have reported that contracting offices have been unable to comment on the precise impact of sequestration their programs. Contractors will want to monitor changes in requirements and scheduling as the precise impact of sequestration becomes clearer.

In some cases, agency officials indicated that sequestration is not expected to have an immediate impact on their contract. Future delays in funding, however, could be a possibility. Certainly, agencies are prioritizing programs, complying with mandates and, in some cases, restructuring their efforts. Program cancellations, however, seem to be in the minority.

Contractors Indicate that Relationships are Their Top Source for New Opportunities

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 09:08:00 -0400

Sources of opportunity identification and assembly of staff resources around opportunities play a critical role in the federal pipeline process. Federal services contractors must develop a system for generating a continuous stream of contracting opportunities to fill their pipeline in order to be successful. Likewise, they need a well honed process for assembling an internal team to vet and potentially bid on these opportunities.

As we continue to look at federal pipeline management processes as a way for contractors to develop a competitive advantage, one extremely important element of the process is opportunity identification. Deltek’s recent research into the opportunity and pipeline processes of federal contractors sheds light on the major opportunity sources used by contractors to fill their pipeline. The chart below shows the top sources for new opportunities by Deltek’s 244 survey respondents:

Large and mid-sized contractors rely heavily on the relationships developed by both business development and project staff to identify new opportunities. This is augmented by third party research. However, small contractors rely more heavily on teaming relationships to identify new opportunities, than do large or mid-sized contractors. This could indicate that their relationships with fellow contractors and teaming partners are stronger than their customer relationships due to their small size and limited time in the marketplace. Large and mid-sized contractors, due to their size and longevity in the market, typically have more people interacting with government clients and have deeper client relationships.

Assembling an experienced and well-trained internal team to pursue business is also a critical factor to increasing win rates.

The chart below shows the average mix of resources used to go after new business in the federal contracting companies that Deltek surveyed:

For the most part, all contractors showed an equal likeliness to outsource market research and proposal writing, while business development is the area most likely to have dedicated resources. The majority of contractors realize how important the business development function is to gaining new business and a constant stream of revenue, and are consequently more likely to maintain those resources in-house and dedicating them to the function of generating business.

Opportunity identification and assembly of staff resources are just two pieces of the pipeline management effort, but contribute to an overall solid process. As federal budgets contract and contracting opportunities become smaller in size, business development and pipeline processes need to adapt to provide a constant new stream of business and revenue.

About Deltek’s Survey:

In July 2012, Deltek conducted a web survey of 244 of business unit heads, CEOs, COOs, business development leaders, capture managers and proposal managers from 138 companies that provide information technology or professional services to the federal government, with annual revenues of $25 million or more.

Government 2.0: Market Trends - IT procurement transformation (Part 1)

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 09:27:00 -0400

Over the years, the emergence of Gov 2.0 has been theorized by IT bureaucrats, vendors, and techies alike. While Web and mobile-based technology has impacted our everyday lives as consumers, it has been slow to take on our lives as constituents, taxpayers and citizens. Instead, government has been using private sector-focused apps and solutions such as Twitter and YouTube for public sector needs.

Even as larger vendors expand their scope of products and services to try and meet Gov 2.0 needs, government entities are hesitant to procure these big-dollar solutions. State and Local governments lack assurance due in large part to limited funds, governance, and market knowledge. So, while big vendors have been cutting back on state and local government business, smaller Gov 2.0 start-ups have been steadily luring in business by offering services and solutions for low or no upfront cost by using a modular plug-and-play format. These affordable and easy-to-implement Web applications are a stark change from enterprise solutions and services offered by the standard IT systems integrator. Now that Gov 2.0 is growing in popularity, the next question centers on how it will change the state and local IT market and procurement process.

Soon after civic-minded programmers formed Gov 2.0 start-ups, it was clear that their business model was adversely fit for the traditional IT procurement process. The Gov 2.0 market has rapidly become a grassroots movement disproportionately occupied by tech savvy community advocates, who have bucked the rules of procurement by offering their products and services at a fraction of what conventional government contracts would cost to implement.

The fact is that government IT spending is on the rise. On a whole, an estimated $140 billion a year is spent on IT needs, and that amount is expected to increase to $174 billion by 2014. State and local governments, which are running out of creative ways to cut their budget, are all too willing to look at low-cost alternatives to replace antiquated systems and satisfy their growing IT needs.

Two prominent examples of Gov 2.0 firms include Granicus, Inc., which provides cloud-based transparency solutions, and SeeClickFix, which uses mobile and Web-based technology as a management tool for government 311 systems. Both firms start their pricing for services at a mere $300 a month. Lesser known Gov 2.0 firms are willing to circumvent the procurement process altogether by offering their products or services at no cost, with the hopes of building a relationship for a potential sale down the road. Still, there are some philanthropic programmers who give away their apps in exchange for bragging rights.

Though many Gov 2.0 apps are based on citizen interaction, apps are not limited to 311-type services. Many innovative programmers have created standalone records management, content management, human resource management, and even data integration apps using open data specifically for internal government use. As this subset of government IT continues to evolve, these Gov 2.0 firms will gain technical growth and market knowledge, and those standalone apps could easily integrate into more robust mainstream applications before Gov 3.0 rolls around.

Analyst’s Take

The main take away is that the presence of these grassroots-minded IT firms is growing. They are being led by skillful, agile, humanitarian-minded innovators who are looking to improve government by sharing pioneering solutions. They lure IT decision-makers by offering beta or free versions upfront, which creates a warm environment to foster a full procurement later on.

If this emerging procurement format proves to be advantageous for state and local governments, it could become the new standard. So, how does a traditional IT firm compete with free IT solutions from these emerging Gov 2.0 firms? The answer is simple: adapt. By blending Gov 2.0’s creative purchasing options such as free trials offers, tiered service subscriptions, and modular solutions, alongside years of experience and quality services and products, a traditional IT firm is easily given the advantage.

Part 2 of this blog series will take a look at how state and local governments have adopted Gov 2.0 by bypassing their own IT procurement processes. In the meantime, be sure to follow Deltek's General Government Team on Twitter @GovWin_GenGov

Lastly, check out this article in Deltek State and Local Analyst Perspective.

Deltek reveals GovWin IQ State & Local Term Contract Resource

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 07:55:00 -0400

Statewide term contracts are a cooperative agreement used to procure goods and services from pre-approved vendors. In recent years, state and local governments have increasingly utilized these contracts to purchase information technology-related goods and services, from computer hardware and software to maintenance and support services. Deltek estimates that state IT term contracts encompass more than $12 billion in annual spending for state and local goods, and nearly $6 billion in annual spending for professional services. In 2011, nearly $700 million in state and local spending was through GSA Schedule 70, and more than $16 million through Schedule 84.

In a poll conducted by Deltek, 72 percent of companies active in the state and local government market rated the importance of term contracts to their success as critically important or important. Product company sales executives rated the importance of term contracts at 4.5 out of 5.0.

As a result, Deltek’s developed the GovWin IQ State & Local Term Contract Resource to provide information and analytics on more than $20 billion in annual nationwide spending across more than 15,000 individual contracts. The database includes master price agreements, Md. CATS I & II, WSCA, U.S. Communities, and other statewide term contracts.

Product features

The new term contracts database allows companies to research and identify which contracts are a good fit for their products or services. The contract details page provides vital information about specific term contracts in an easy tab format, including key point of contact information and contract documents. Along with basic contract details such as solicitation and contract number, contract start and end date, duration, and value, organizations will be able to learn the following:

Competitive pricing - View competitors’ pricing and discounting information
Open enrollment - Determine which contracts are open enrollment vs. recompetes
Terms and conditions - View key details associated with the contract
Eligible users - Which government agencies and entities may use the contract?
Mandatory use - Which government agencies are required to use the contract?

How vendors will benefit

Organizations will have a wealth of information available to them with the new Intellisearch™ feature, including the ability to view what their competitors are charging for similar products and services and where they currently hold contracts. Advanced keyword search capabilities allow companies to mark contracts they are interested in and receive notifications for these records. Users will also be able to take advantage of other new features such as generating graphs from search results, and side-by-side comparisons of pricing information.

The term contract database will continue to provide up-to-date information on the state and local IT and professional services landscape, and as states award new contracts, the tool will be built out and edited to reflect current contracts and their key components.

To learn more about the GovWin IQ State & Local Term Contract Resource, or to request a demo, go here.

Celebrating National Purchasing Month: big, Texas-style transparency

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:23:00 -0400

The state of Texas is known for doing things big, and with the third largest state budget in the country, the Lone Star State tends to spend big as well. In 2011, the state spent $94 billion in total expenditures, with approximately $660 million spent on IT-related goods and services alone. Earlier this month, the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) informally announced upcoming contracts with both Capgemini (opportunity A) and Xerox Corp (opportunity B) that would replace the troubled IBM (opportunity C) contract. The new multi-year contracts for data center management and operations services are worth $127 million and $1.1 billion, respectively. So, who is tracking all this money, where is it going, and how exactly is it being used?

Texas State Comptroller Susan Combs is responsible for capturing how all public funds are collected and used. When Combs took office in 2007, she wanted to make transparency a priority. She understood that on the heels of an economic crisis, prompted by shady transactions and closed-door deals, the call for transparency in government had become a hot topic. Later that year, Combs began posting state agencies’ expenditures online, which provided details – down to the purchase of each pencil – on how the state spent public money. Today, her office tracks half-a-billion dollars a day, and the transparency website is updated with the latest numbers every evening. It’s no wonder that the Texas Transparency Web portal was recently ranked No. 1 for government spending transparency by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG).

The open data made accessible on the website not only lists expenditure by year and agency, but also lists links to all state contracts including DIR statewide co-op contracts. This website can be an invaluable tool for vendors interested in doing business with the state. They can learn which agencies use which contracts, and how much they spend using those contracts. In addition, the state’s transparency website provides contract information such as incumbent pricing and detailed scopes of work.

For example, the Texas transparency website details that in 2011, the Health and Human Services Commission spent $22 million on computer hardware and software, $135 million on data processing and programming services, $10 million on IT equipment repair/maintenance, and $3 million on telecommunications equipment and software. The website also reveals that 79 percent of the nearly $170 million public dollars spent for the commission’s IT-related needs went to just four vendors: Northrop Grumman Systems, Deloitte Consulting LLP, AT&T, and IBM Corp (see Figure 1). This in-depth financial transparency can help vendors build their business pipeline and get a leg up on winning future contracts.

Figure 1: Allocation of 2011 IT Expenditure in Texas among the top seven grossing vendors from the eight largest state agencies

As always, follow us on Twitter @GovWin_GenGov

Moving along the road to recovery: A glance at Pennsylvania?s FY 2013 budget

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:00:00 -0400

With a focus on turning the “road to recovery into the path to prosperity,” Pennsylvania Governor Tim Corbett introduced his proposed FY 2013 budget on February 7. Continuing efforts to decrease spending, this year’s budget cuts $20 million in general funding compared to FY 2012.

Core objectives of this year’s budget include streamlining government administration and operations; job creation; supporting human services; and enhancing education. These goals will be accomplished through the consolidation of departments; the rollout of Jobs First PA, a four-program initiative to improve the state’s employee market; enhanced program integrity efforts for welfare programs; and implementing performance measurement tools for all parties involved in providing basic education (preK-12).

Spending increases can be seen in the basic education, higher education, justice/public safety and public finance verticals, ranging from 0.30 percent to 37.52 percent. Health care, social services, transportation, economic development/regulation, natural resources/environment, general government and homeland security verticals will experience decreases ranging from 0.11 percent to nearly 7 percent. More drastic changes can be seen in information technology spending, in which every vertical will see a decrease in spending, ranging from less than 1 percent in homeland security to almost 71 percent in health care.

Analyst’s Take

With IT spending on the decline for FY 2013, it should not come as a surprise that there was little mention of large-scale IT projects in the budget. Instead, IT spending will go toward smaller-scale projects and making enhancements to existing systems. Vendors with efficiency-focused and cost-saving solutions will be well received by state program and procurement officials, particularly if these solutions can improve existing systems instead of replacing them.

That said, with the implementation of block grants for much of the funding for the Departments of Education and Public Welfare, IT spending may increase at the local level while it declines at the state level. Vendors should be prepared for increased collaboration with city- and county-level officials who may take the lead in implementing IT projects and procuring IT vendors.

The state has reauthorized capitals bonds for FY 2013, which contributes to the nearly 38 percent increase in spending for the public finance vertical. It is estimated that FY 2013 new project authorizations will amount to a total of about $1.2 billion, with higher-dollar projects planned for the urban mass transportation, higher education, and environmental protection and management program areas. The reauthorization of these bonds bodes well for the state’s economic health now and in the future.

From the FY 2013 budget, it appears that the commonwealth is making progress on the economic road to recovery. If the state is able to continue its commitment to creating jobs, reforming education and public welfare programs, and streamlining government operations, the economy and citizens will surely prosper.

GovWin subscribers have access to expanded analysis of Pennsylvania’s FY 2013 Executive Budget, including detailed budget data, available here.

Recapping the Florida Educational Technology Conference: social media tools vs. educational Web 2.0

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:46:00 -0400

Tom DiScipio, founder of the educational social media tool, ePals, gave an in-depth presentation on the ups and downs of social networking tools vs. Web 2.0 education platforms at the 32 Annual Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) held in late January. He launched the session with hard-hitting statistics on privacy laws, or the lack thereof. According to a recent study of Columbia University students, 94 percent of those surveyed said they were sharing personal information on Facebook that they did not intend to make public. DiScipio also noted that 20 million minors are currently on Facebook, with 7.5 million users under age 13, and five million under 10 years old. He said the top reasons most teachers utilize popular social networking tools such as Facebook or Twitter in the classroom is because they are most familiar with them and are not aware of other options.

Safety and privacy issues with social media tools are a major concern in the education arena. DiScipio offered a hefty rundown of cons with mass market social media, including:

Safety and policy management
Role-based permissions at customized and administrator levels
Not always “on task”
Students under age 13 (age of consent)
Archiving/storage
Privacy – personal info tracking/advertising
School/district employment
Not curricular in functionality
Requires more time for collaborative tasks
Requires outside third party applications be used to complete tasks
Does not integrate other K-12 third party apps

Not totally aimed at tooting ePals’ horn, DiScipio noted several Web 2.0 educational organizations that successfully provide K-12 social networking, including Schoology, Edmodo, eChalk, and Gaggle. Of course, ePals was the main focus. It is currently “the Internet’s largest and fastest-growing K-12 social learning network,” reaching more than 25 million teachers and students around the globe.

Epals’ many solutions bundle into a solid model for other vendors to reference and build on when customizing and marketing their product. DiScipio stressed the importance of global interaction. With ePals’ Global Community feature, students and teachers can communicate and work on projects with other classes worldwide. Further key ePals features include secure email with language translation capability, virtual workspaces with digital storage, and curriculum-based services to improve reading, writing and critical thinking skills through a matching of students with mentors and applicable learning material.

DiScipio said that when employing a school-based social media platform, districts reported students are less prone to inappropriate behavior. Epals is designed for safety, with strict policy management, assigned roles and permissions, and teacher supervision.

Only the tip of the social-media iceberg has been touched in this day of virtual communication and Web 2.0’s reign. Social networking platforms geared toward specific industries such as education (ePals), working professionals (LinkedIn, Yammer), or government (GovLoop) will continue to expand across international markets. Solutions that offer a bevy of networking capability, strong security and multiple resources in one package are most likely to appeal to organizations seeking the most effective product to help their users thrive.

For a complete recap of FETC including sessions on virtualization, green computing, high-density Wi-Fi challenges, and tablet technology in the classroom, please go here. Also, follow me on Twitter @GovWinKRidley for the latest state and local buzz.

Deltek's first visit to the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:05:00 -0400

The 32nd annual Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) was held Jan. 23-26, 2012, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The event is touted as one of the leading technology conferences for educators and administrators nationwide, and highlights cutting-edge technology utilized in K-12 through higher education institutions. The conference offers teachers, faculty heads, media specialists, and technology directors an opportunity to coalesce and learn about new tools to implement in classrooms and curriculums, with the goal of boosting learning environments and student engagement.

This year was the first time Deltek attended FETC, and as the analyst designated to partake in the event, I found it offered a wealth of information for educators and vendors alike. Though most conference sessions were aimed at teachers, vendors were able to gain insight into their competitors, desired product capabilities, and which technologies are highest in demand. More than 500 companies occupied the conference’s 275,000 square-foot exhibit hall to demo and detail their solutions in hopes of making their mark in the ever-expanding education IT landscape.

Later this month, I will post a formal recap of the FETC sessions attended. Admittedly, it was difficult to choose amongst the more than 150 concurrent sessions offered over the three-day event. While not every session was a slam dunk, key takeaways were obtained in each. The recap will contain session summaries with valuable information for contractors wanting to learn more about key players in their market, as well as teachers simply wanting to hear about what’s out there and how they can improve current practices.

Stay tuned for the full analyst recap and follow me on Twitter @GovWinKRidley for the latest state and local buzz.

IT Vendors: Beware the Overselling of K-12 Virtual Education

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:29:00 -0400

A recent Associated Press story on K-12 distance learning perfectly captures all the perils IT vendors face in the overselling of virtual learning. IT vendors should recognize that the potential total number of students who can be enrolled in K-12 online programs is limitless. However, the real gains from online learning will come as supplements to the bricks-and-mortar high school classrooms (i.e., blended online-onsite learning), not as a replacement for these classrooms.

Let’s take at look at the hype around virtual learning with excerpts from the AP story: “But as states pour money into virtual classrooms, with an estimated 200,000 virtual K-12 students in 40 states from Washington to Wisconsin … regulation isn't moving nearly as fast as the virtual school boom.”

Unfortunately, few reliable data sources exist for virtual school enrollment. Most widely cited statistics are produced by organizations with a stake in promoting such a boom. A 2009 U.S. Department of Education meta-study, which is cited in the AP story, offers this statistic:

Online learning—for students and for teachers—is one of the fastest growing trends in educational uses of technology. The National Center for Education Statistics (2008) estimated that the number of K-12 public school students enrolling in a technology-based distance education course grew by 65 percent in the two years from 2002-03 to 2004-05. On the basis of amore recent district survey, Picciano and Seaman (2009) estimated that more than a million K-12 students took online courses in school year 2007–08. (PDF p. 13)

Enrolling in “a technology-based distance education course” is a far cry from being a full-time online student. However, from a vendor perspective, a seat is a seat, whether the student is taking multiple courses or is full time online. Picciano and Seaman (cited in the DOE study above) have produced more recent peer-reviewed research (2011) predicting “that by 2016, five million K-12 mostly high school students will be enrolled in these (online) courses.”

For further analysis, please read the complete analyst recap, located here.

MITA maturity levels in states

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:25:00 -0400

At the end of November, I wrote a blog and an analyst perspective (log-in required) about the draft Medicaid Information Technology Architecture (MITA) 3.0 document that has been released for comment. A large part of MITA rests on the State Self-Assessment (MITA SS-A), which is used to determine a state’s current business capabilities. The MITA Maturity Model (MMM) is utilized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to show how business capabilities can evolve.

The MITA SS-A section has been expanded in 3.0 and now includes seven standards and conditions. These conditions must be adhered to by the states within 12 months of MITA 3.0 final release in order for Medicaid technology investments to be eligible for enhanced federal-matched funds. The 3.0 MMM is as follows:

Level 1: All technology, policy, statutory enablers exist and are widely used. Agency complies with baseline requirements.
Level 2: All technology, policy, and statutory enablers exist and are widely used. Agency improves important parts of its business.
Level 3: Industry standards are widely used. Agency promotes collaboration, data sharing, interoperability, and consolidation of business processes.
Levels 4 and 5: Leverage and reuse of technologies is widely used. Seamless coordination and integration with state and federal exchanges. Data exchange is real-time.

After reading through several MITA SS-As, I found most Medicaid programs today are at either a Level 1 or 2, but individual components of state programs can be more or less advanced. Although CMS indicates that there is no such thing as an MM Level 1 state or MM Level 3 state, most programs have indicated where they fall in the respective SS-A or Medicaid Health Information Technology (HIT) plans. Montana, Iowa, and Alabama all classify themselves as a Level 1 state, but have plans in place to reach Level 3 maturity. South Dakota is aiming for a mix of Levels 2 and 3, while Nebraska is looking to achieve between Levels 3 and 5. Illinois, which will be undergoing a Medicaid management information system (MMIS) procurement next summer, is looking to reach Level 2 maturity. West Virginia is currently procuring its new MMIS and hopes to achieve Level 4 or 5.

It’s important for vendors of any Medicaid business product (not just an MMIS vendor), and now eligibility product, to know what maturity level a state wants to achieve to ensure proper MITA standards and ideals are met. Enhanced funding for both MMISs and integrated eligibility systems hang on compliance with MITA standards. Vendors like ACS have products meeting Levels 3 and 4 maturity models, so turning a blind eye to the new MITA 3.0 draft and any draft that follows will result in lost business with states and Medicaid programs.

Follow Deltek’s Health Care and Social Services Team on Twitter @GovWin_HHS, or connect with us through LinkedIn.

Spotlight on American Education Week: statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDS) grant

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:46:00 -0400

By Randi Powell and Joseph Lee

The Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) Grant Program was established in 2005 under the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) Institute of Education Sciences (IES) as a competitive cooperative agreement grant. The grant was intended to allow states to manage and analyze education data such as student records. This data would help states, districts, schools, educators and other stakeholders make more informed decisions on ways to improve student learning and achievement. Because these SLDS projects are such a large undertaking that require technical skills and technologies most states and localities do not have, education technology vendors have stepped in to design, develop and implement these federally-funded statewide systems.

Since the grant’s debut, there have been four rounds of SLDS grants awarded to 41 states and the District of Columbia. The most recent request for applications (RFA) released on September 15, 2011, is for the fifth round FY12 grants. Like previous years, the three priorities listed for the FY12 SLDS RFA are to:

1. Design, develop, and implement a statewide, longitudinal K-12 data system

2. Develop and link early childhood data with the state’s K-12 data system

3. Develop and link postsecondary and/or workforce data with the state’s K-12 data system

Individual grants for FY12 are estimated to range from $1 million to $5 million over a three-year period. The IES will award grants of no more than $5 million for Priority 1 and grants of no more than $4 million for Priorities 2 and 3. The submission deadline is December 15, 2011 at 4:30 p.m. EST. The only applications that will not be considered for the FY12 grants are the 20 state educational agencies that received the SLDS ARRA grant in May 2010, as the ARRA grants were two to three times the size of previous SLDS grants. A map of all 41 grantee states and the District of Columbia can be found below:

The federal RFA requirements are vague, but they permit grantees to develop plans, structure processes, and craft solicitations to meet their individual needs while guaranteeing federal outcomes are met. This open language in the RFA has also allowed education technology vendors to create SLDS products that act more like modular solutions. States piecemeal these solutions together along with other in-house and third party solutions and services to create a patch work SLDS. As of July 2011, IES reported on the status of SLDS projects across all 50 states, including states that had not participated in the SLDS grants. It was found that states are at differing degrees of completeness and many are still looking to procure key solutions. GovWin has been tracking many of these upcoming SLDS related opportunities:

· GovWin Tracked Opportunity A – Early Warning System; New York State Education Department

· GovWin Tracked Opportunity B – Electronic Record Exchange System; New York State Education Department

· GovWin Tracked Opportunity C – Higher Education Longitudinal Data System; North Dakota Department of Public Instruction

·GovWin Tracked Opportunity D – Statewide Longitudinal Data System Student and Teacher Scheduling; Connecticut Department of Education

· GovWin Tracked Opportunity E – Statewide Postsecondary Student Identification System; Iowa Department of Education

·GovWin Tracked Opportunity F – Statewide Student Information System; Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

· GovWin Tracked Opportunity G – Postsecondary Educational Longitudinal Data System; Illinois Department of Higher Education

· GovWin Tracked Opportunity H – Statewide Student Information System and Special Education System; New Hampshire Department of Education

Analysts Take

The SLDS initiative has become the centerpiece of a growing education technology market as federal dollars push it further and faster. These one-time federal funds used for designing and implementing SLDSs have created a window of opportunity for vendors, who will likely extend these projects with ongoing maintenance and training services contracts. Nevertheless, in a time when talk of another recession looms next to the short life span on these SLDS funds, financial sustainability and technical adaptability have become major factors for states to consider.

In the future, SEAs will look to continue linking their K-12 SLDSs to more local education agencies (LEAs), charter schools, higher education institutions, and workforce agencies to build out a more complete view of academic achievement. Even though most of the attention at this time is being put on the development and installation of education longitudinal data systems across the country, the data this infrastructure is being built for will continue to grow and become more complex. IT solicitations seeking more efficient and effective ways of handling education data will become even more of a need:

·Web-based portal development

·Data collection/quality services

·Data standardization/integration services

·Data storage expansion solutions

·Interoperability expansion solutions

These data-focused SLDS-related solicitations will continue to stream in even once federal grant funds dry up and larger SLDS modular solution projects are completed. Ensuring data such as student records, teacher assessments, and test score assessments can be shared not only from one district to the next or from K-12 to higher education, but from state to state will be the next hurdle.

For this article in full, click here.

Follow GovWin's General Government team for all state and local government education (PK-12 and Higher) updates, here.

While Ranking in the Top 10 for Efficiencies, Colorado Has Over 265 Active GovWin Opportunities

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:43:00 -0400

Over the past few weeks, GovWin has blogged about various states which have been working to improve efficiency and cut costs in the wake of tightening budget environments. One state which was stood out in making these improvements is Colorado.

Currently, Colorado ranks as one of the more efficient states on a statistical basis, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau and GovWin (see previous analysis here and here). According to the combined data, Colorado ranked in the top 10 for overall state budget efficiency, and how the state spent federal aid dollars in 2010.

Besides being among the top states for efficiency, Colorado has also been proactive in terms of taking these efficiencies to the next level. In 2008, the Colorado Government Efficiency and Management (GEM) Review delivered a list of recommendations to Governor Bill Ritter detailing ways to improve and deliver $205 million in five-year cost-savings, customer-service efficiencies, and other benefits.

Analyst’s Take:

Overall, GovWin believes that efficiency initiatives in states such as Colorado will be done in waves, with multiple rounds of consolidation, service redefinition, and streamlining done over several years to accomplish wide-reaching reforms. Effective reforms will most likely span multiple administrations over a five to ten-year period, with virtually every efficiency reform having a downstream impact on IT systems and services.

Moving forward, successful vendors should use Colorado’s past strategic recommendations (and future efficiency initiatives) to create business development justifications for IT products and solutions that will allow the state to continue along its path of creating efficiencies and cutting overall costs.

Future Opportunities:

While working to boost is efficiencies over the past several years, Colorado currently has over 265 active GovWin tracked opportunities. The following is a breakdown of the top Colorado opportunities (in terms of value) across the Healthcare, General Government Services and Justice/Public Safety verticals:

Healthcare

1. GovWin Tracked Opportunity A: Medicaid Management Information System Fiscal Agent Services; Value: $68M

2. GovWin Tracked Opportunity B: Health Insurance Exchange Services; Value: $20M

3. GoVwin Tracked Opportunity C: External Quality Review Organization Services; Value: $6.2M

General Government Services -

1. GovWin Tracked Opportunity D: Enterprise Resource Planning Solutions; Value: $25M

2. GovWin Tracked Opportunity E: Common Shared IT Services Project; Value: $10M

3. GovWin Tracked Opportunity F: Total Licensing System Replacement; Value: $9M

Justice/Public Safety

1. GovWin Tracked Opportunity G: Justice Information System (JIS); Value: $10M

2. GovWin Tracked Opportunity H: Next Generation 911 System; Value: $10M

3. GovWin Tracked Opportunity I: North West Regional 911 Phone System; Value: $5M

Note: Subscribers have access to comprehensive data and analysis for each opportunity including anticipated awards, requirements, and related dates, here.

General Government Top Upcoming Opportunities Roundup: Northeast

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:42:00 -0400

Over the next 6-12 months, a multitude of contracting opportunities will be coming down the pipeline for vendors providing IT solutions. Here is a roundup of some of the largest and most lucrative projects GovWin is currently tracking:

New York

Tracked Opportunity 78417: Transforming New York’s Information Technology Environment

New York is in the midst of completely revamping the procurement process for IT and IT-related services. In early August 2011, the state released a request for information (RFI) asking vendors for advice on how best to proceed with future solicitations regarding data center consolidation, voice over Internet telecommunications, identity and access management, as well as enterprise-wide procurement strategies for IT hardware, software and services. While this RFI will not lead to a comprehensive formal solicitation for these services, it will serve as a vehicle for future requests for proposals (RFPs) and RFIs, including opportunities for IT Office and Equipment and Cloud Computing that GovWin is already tracking.

Massachusetts:

Tracked Opportunity 65001: IT Hardware Services, Computers and Servers

The Executive Office of Administration and Finance for Massachusetts has decided to consolidate a handful of major statewide hardware contracts into a single term contract. Contracts ITC16, ITC16A and ITC36 are all scheduled to expire and will be replaced by contract ITC47 for hardware services, computers and servers. This opportunity has been valued at more than $630 million. A draft request for responses was released by the state to be evaluated by vendors. A formal solicitation is expected to be released in mid-October.

Tracked Opportunity 66804: Network Services

Originally, this opportunity began with a 2010 notice by the Massachusetts Operational Services Division for Telecommunications Network Services for telecommunications equipment, maintenance, implementation services, and related supplies for communication, voice, data, paging, IP, Web, and radio. However, in April 2011, the state modified the notice while simultaneously bumping the expected value of the contract from $250 million to $350 million. The state confirmed the scope of the services desired was expanded and delayed a solicitation release by several months. Since receiving vendor feedback through several meetings and an August 2011 RFI, the state has increased the overall value of this contract again to $600 million. A solicitation release is expected within the next 2-3 months.

Pennsylvania:

Tracked Opportunity 75693: Outsourcing of Mainframe and Midrange Computer Operations and Support

In 1998, the Pennsylvania Office of Administration contracted with Unisys to manage and support data center operations. In 2008, the state extended that incumbent agreement until 2014. However, the Office of Administration has begun initiating the first steps in re-soliciting these services well before the contract expires in order to ensure continuity of services. In August 2011, a request for quotes (RFQ) was released on the state bid page for data center strategy and advisory services. The company that wins this contract will assist the state in planning and implementing its long-term data center strategy, including gathering business requirements and drafting a rebid. According to a project timeline released at the RFQ pre-proposal conference, the solicitation for data center operations and support is scheduled for release in March 2012.

Maryland:

Tracked Opportunity 42488: Enterprise Resource Planning System

GovWin has been tracking this project for the better part of four years, ever since a July 2007 announcement by the Prince George’s County Purchasing Office stated it would be releasing a solicitation for consultant services to help plan for the procurement of a document management/enterprise content management system. After four years of delays and budget issues, an RFQ was finally released in August 2011 for a program manager to assist the county during implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Originally the county intended to release a solicitation for ERP implementation concurrently with the program manager RFQ, but it appears the consultant portion will be procured before proceeding with the implementation. A solicitation for this project is expected to be released in Q4 2011.

Tracked Opportunity 58467: Statewide Human Resources Information System Integration

In May 2009, the Maryland Department of Budget and Management procured software for a new comprehensive human resources information system (HRIS). The integration portion of this project was not included in the requirements for software purchase. For reasons unspecified (most likely budget woes), procurement for integration services has been delayed, but it now appears the state is ramping up activity through its consulting and technical services contracting vehicle. Several RFQs for support personnel have been released by the state over the past year to provide services for the new HRIS. As of now, a comprehensive integration solicitation is scheduled for release by the end of this year, but a recent RFQ for a lead developer/consultant for the project was cancelled this past week. The state has not yet responded to inquiries concerning why or what effect this may have on the integration timeline.

Delaware:

Tracked Opportunity 43478: Statewide Telecommunications Voice Systems

Since 2006, Delaware’s Department of Administrative Services has contracted with a number of vendors under Contract 06455RH for telecom voice services. Since May 2011, the state has confirmed it is working on drafting a rebid solicitation for these services. However, the scope of the requirements is apparently undergoing a significant rewrite, and it is not clear what shape the new opportunity will take. The release date has been pushed back several times over the past two months and is now tentatively scheduled for sometime in October.

New Jersey:

Tracked Opportunity 7786: Statewide Telecommunications Data Services

For the past 12 years, the state of New Jersey has contracted with AT&T and Verizon to provide data telecommunications and high-speed internet services to state government agencies. Though the state appears to be happy with the services it has received (exercising 11 renewal options since 2000), there have been signs over the last year that a potential rebid is in the works. In August 2010, an RFI was released for data and “Centrex-like” voice services, with the intention of gathering business requirements for a new solicitation. In May 2011, GovWin received confirmation that a solicitation is under development by the Treasury Department, but undisclosed difficulties have pushed a release back on several occasions. As of now, the state expects to release a rebid for this project sometime in Q4 2011.

Together, these opportunities represent an estimated value of more than $2.1 billion, and none of them have a formal solicitation out on the street yet. As always, GovWin will continue to monitor these opportunities and others for additional information in the months and years ahead.

Earthquake shakes mobile service, and the increased need for NG911

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:27:00 -0400

As we near the tenth anniversary of 9/11, it seems wireless communication during times of crisis is still an uphill battle. Tuesday's 5.8-magnitude earthquake centered in Mineral, Va. left many East Coasters hanging on the line, waiting for a dial tone. Now, with Hurricane Irene fast approaching, will mobile phone service once again be disrupted? Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has launched an investigation into the lost phone service that left many unable to reach family, friends, and 9-1-1 centers for nearly an hour. "We are very concerned by incidents where emergency wireless calls to 9-1-1 after yesterday's earthquake were hampered by network congestion," FCC Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett said in a statement Wednesday. Barnett also stressed the continued need to move toward next generation 9-1-1 (NG911) services, which allow 9-1-1 centers to receive text, picture and video messages from those reporting an emergency. Here at Deltek's Herndon, Va. headquarters, the state and local research team ? in unison ? jumped up from our seats as the building shook for what seemed to be an inordinate amount of time. After a few minutes of wide-eyed confusion, shaky-voiced fear, and humorous banter mixed throughout the group, many of us grabbed our cell phones or hit the Internet for news. As for myself, I immediately updated my social media profile with a simple "um ... was that an earthquake?" which was followed by a bevy of friends posting similar updates. According to Twitter's own feed, more than 40,000 earthquake-related Tweets were sent within a minute of initial rumblings, and the site hit "about 5,500 Tweets per second (TPS). For context, this TPS is more than Osama Bin Laden's death & on par w/ the Japanese quake." Sure, social media is a great way to spread the word, but what about direct communication during an emergency? I tried calling my mom shortly after the shake ? no service. Two minutes later ? no service. Five, ten, twenty minutes ? no service. I resorted to text messages, all of which went through without flaw. The reason for often seamless text service is that text messages can be sent, cued for transmission, and placed in an open route within seconds, whereas a phone call can take minutes to transmit and cannot be altered for time. Mobile phone companies admit service was a problem during the quake, though there is debate on whether it stemmed from extreme call traffic or damage to network infrastructure. Still, regardless of the root of disruption, you'd hope calls to emergency services would somehow move to the front of the line for priority connection. Earlier this month, Deltek Senior Analyst Jeff Webster reported on the radio spectrum known as the D-block, which the FCC, Congress and state officials are working to determine how to best allocate. The D-block has received a lot of attention from public safety officials urging Congress to assign the spectrum to public safety use, and current bills in the House of Representatives (HR 607) and the Senate (S 911) ? if passed ? would do just that. "The driving force behind this initiative goes back to the Department of Homeland Security's report on the status of interoperable communications and the 9/11 Commission's recommendations. Both reports suggest that during 9/11 and the days after, communication amongst public safety officials was poor. The systems in place did not allow agencies to talk to one another and thus jeopardized response efforts. Since then, more than $1 billion has been set aside for public safety communications by the federal government." ? from Jeff Webster's report. Analyst's Take Extreme weather seems to be becoming a norm for many parts of the country, and commercial carriers would be wise to work with agencies to prepare for such events and ensure uninterrupted communication. Additionally, the increasing rise of social media use during emergencies proves the power of technology in relaying vital information. One way to enhance the effectiveness of social media in emergency response and public safety would be to equip officers with smartphones to track latest news and key location points during a disaster. As Hurricane Irene heads inward, we risk the possibility of more mobile service disruption. No matter the result, I'm sure we'll all have cell phone in hand, well-prepared to talk, text or Tweet. Where were you when the earthquake hit? Did you experience trouble getting through to people? Post your comments here. Follow me on Twitter @kridleyGovWin.