Diverse Mission Objectives Will Drive DHS IT Spending Through 2022

Fiscal, organizational, and other challenges have impacted IT growth prospects at DHS. However, sustained focus on core missions and heightened emphasis on high-priority objectives will stimulate supporting IT investments.

As part of Deltek’s recently released Federal Information Technology Market, 2017-2022, we forecast that spending by DHS on contracted IT goods and services will climb from $6.6 billion in FY 2017 to $7.7 billion in FY 2022 reflecting a 3.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). (See chart below.) Deltek’s forecast projects increased spending on software, modest gains in hardware and IT services, and relatively flat spending by comparison on communications and network services over the forecast period.

IT Investment Drivers

Diverse mission objectives across DHS and its components and the complex nature of several of their component missions continue to be the primary demand driver. These factors require significant technological investments and advances to expand their capabilities and maximize their effectiveness.

DHS’s lead role for cybersecurity for federal civilian agencies continues to expand and mature in the areas of network security, continuous monitoring, incident response and assistance, and government-wide security policy implementation. The National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) continues to take a lead role for cybersecurity for federal civilian agencies and efforts to further elevate NPPD’s position within DHS will likely come with additional authorities and resources. Continued threats and varied progress will keep cybersecurity as a major funding area.

The department has been a strong adopter of cloud solutions, approaches, architectures, and shared services. Aggressive consideration of cloud adoption strategies is central to efforts to reduce costs, gain efficiencies, and improve speed across the department and its components.

DHS continues to pursue data-driven decisions support with analytics, workflow processes and knowledge-based technologies among its enterprise service delivery goals. DHS tends to buy big data solutions via open market competitions or GSA Schedule IT 70, often through small businesses. Driving factors include data analytics for border security and cybersecurity as well as integrating and managing the data streams from the expanding use of sensor-equipped technologies.

High-priority Trump Administration objectives to increase border security personnel and supporting infrastructure will drive investment in mobile technologies and communications. These and other efforts will focus DHS attention on its mobile computing environment and strategies to enable end-to-end mobile solutions and enterprise mobile computing capabilities that support component missions.

Finally, DHS will continue to drive technology innovation through its use of innovation incubators, grants, and other forms of industry collaboration to help make emerging technologies viable and accessible to aid the various DHS missions and those of other federal agencies.