Firing Up Your Federal Government Business
Navigating through the bureaucratic, regulatory and funding-challenged federal government marketplace can be daunting to say the least. However, agencies’ needs for security solutions are great and integrators willing to play this game can score big.
“My boss told me to get our systems to be HSPD-12 and FIPS 201 compliant. What exactly does that mean?” Whether you have heard that exact quote or one similar, your ability to respond to your customer is going to depend on the homework you’ve done and significant preparation. Referring back to customers that have multiple hats to wear, they are looking to the industry professional for clear and accurate guidance. Taking control of your future means having a field organization that is knowledgeable and prepared to answer this question.
Another topic of interest in the industry centers around the General Services Administration’s (GSA) guidance regarding the Approved Product List (APL) and the list of HSPD-12 providers identified to support the installation and maintenance of the relevant FIPS 201 components/systems. GSA plays a major role in the management of buildings for the federal government and its related infrastructure, such as physical access control systems.
Since this journey to become HSPD-12 compliant began some nine years ago, there have been considerable monetary efforts expended by all involved to meet this requirement. These include industry meetings, government policy clarifi
cations and updates, technology enhancements, and untold hours of dialogue and debate in company conference rooms.
GSA is going through a change to revamp its classification categories for the approved products it has listed to be used on an HSPD-12 system. Having a list of compliant products, cross-listed with other products for integration and service providers to support will help minimize the confusion. However, it will not eliminate all the problems, as success will still be dependent on pulling everything together correctly.
The testing of the final product to ensure it meets the requirements is also critical. This is no different than being granted an Authority to Operate (ATO) for a Department of Defense (DoD) system. Perhaps this scenario can best be conveyed analogously: Just because a cake requires egg, flour, water, oil, vanilla, sugar, a pan and an oven, doesn’t necessarily make for a great dessert.
Technology Another Agent of Change
In addition to the shift in the marketplace due to new fiscal budgets and maturing policies, we are seeing influences to the market enacted by new technology. Some would argue that the reduced funding is acting as an accelerant to the adoption of these new technologies. This would include the use of private and public clouds for the cost benefits of shared computing services. Another is the minimization of required hardware within an access control solution from an installation and maintenance perspective.
The security industry is seeing a similar shift to the 1980s and 1990s when analog technology was replaced with digital and the use of Internet protocols for communications. For a closer look at how technology is enabling federal government clients and others with mission-critical needs to more effectively manage identities, see the sidebar.
The ability to support multiple independent network infrastructures for fire alarm, security, telephony, building controls, IT and ancillary systems is not seen as sustainable. Each typically has separate cabling, conveyance, hardware, software, operating personnel and software support license agreements. As part of the Federal Identity, Credential and Access Management (FICAM) roadmap, CIOs are beginning to take on more responsibility each day for physical security systems. The need to understand how this affects your product as a manufacturer, solutions sets as an integrator and route-to-procurement as an end user is key.
The GSA Schedule 70 for Information Technology has a Specialty Item Number (SIN) 132 that addresses HSPD-12. Historically, most agency security officers are accustomed to procuring through the GSA Schedule 84 for Law Enforcement, which hosts common security elements for CCTV, intrusion detection and access control systems. The influence of the IT departments and their familiarity with Schedule 70 has already begun to show itself, as procurements are beginning to be released on this IT schedule.
Shifting Scales of Opportunity
As an industry, we are in a unique time where change is coming. The situation is similar to ice hockey: When everything is stable and no one is moving, very little happens to change the outcome; however, when players start skating and the puck is bouncing around in front of the net, the potential for scoring increases exponentially. In short, chaos creates opportunity.
So as we step back and take a look, here are a few contributing factors that might impact the landscape of the federal government market, and thus create more opportunities.
• The policy requirements are maturing and getting heavy.
• The funding to meet the requirements is getting light.
• There is an ongoing shift in technology to help address this imbalance. Ultimately, end users are looking to reduce TCO.
Being in front of the change is going to make a critical difference for every organization. The ability to educate yourself and your customers as to what all of the policies, special publications, recommendations and rhetoric should mean to them is paramount. The ability to select the right technology that will meet the current requirements and support the growth within their organization, and keeping up with the ever evolving policies will produce a trusted partner relationship. The ability to help your customer find the most cost-effective solutions amid reduced material, labor operating and maintenance costs will help to produce additional opportunities.
In the end, the challenge for each security integrator is to become a trusted partner for the customer by understanding the numerous requirements, technical choices and potential changes, while providing them the best value to lower their TCO.
Paul Retzbach, PMP, PSP, is Vice President – Government for STANLEY Security (stanleysecuritysolutions.com).
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