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46 May 2021
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WT Executive Perspectives
Participants
Michael Canning
Government and Public Services Leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Cameron Chehreh
CTO and Vice President of Presales Engineering, DellTechnologies
Jordan Garrett
DigitalTwin and Edge Solutions Lead, Dell Technologies
Todd Gnospelius
Vice President, Aviation, AECOM
Thomas Greiner
Senior Managing Director,Technology Business Lead, Accenture
John Karabias
Vice President, Growth and Strategy, Jacobs
Julie McPherson
Executive Vice President, Digital Solutions, Booz Allen Hamilton
Heather Newlin
Vice President and General Manager, Jacobs
Tom Oliver
Vice President of Digital Consulting and Solutions, General Dynamics Information Technology
PV Puvvada
CEO, NetImpact Strategies
Bob Ritchie
Vice President, Cloud and Applications Development, Science Applications International Corp.
Thomas Romeo
General Manager, U.S. Federal Services Segment, Maximus
Bruce Samuelson
Senior Vice President, International Maritime Programs and Business Development, Serco Inc.
Timothy Spadafore
Senior Vice President, Consulting Services, Defense, CGI Federal
Lisa Wolford
CEO, Constellation West
Note: Washington Technology Editor-in- Chief Nick Wakeman led the roundtable discussion.The March 17 virtual gathering was underwritten by Dell Technologies, but both the substance of the discussion and the published article are strictly editorial products. Neither Dell nor any of the participants had input beyond their March 17 comments.
Participants agreed that digital transformation is inevitable but that it will not look the same for all customers.
that people are ready to accept it and move forward.”
Issues related to employees, custom- ers and end users were topics of dis- cussion. Executives used terms such as “digital dexterity,” “digital native” and “digital fluency” to describe the characteristics contractor and govern- ment employees must have to drive digital transformation.
“We have a long way to go,” one executive said. “There is an art and a science to preparing people for a digital environment.”
Among other things, it means ensuring that employees understand emerging technologies, regardless of whether they consider themselves to be technologists. Indeed, in many ways, digital transformation is a mindset or a way of thinking about problems and outcomes and then applying technology.
One executive cited the example of SpaceX and its disruption of the aero- space market. “What SpaceX has done is not continue the evolution of the rocket from World War II,” the execu- tive said. “Instead, they said, ‘Hey, we have new materials. We have new tech- nologies. What would a rocket be if we had the same requirements levied on us from 1945?’”
Participants agreed that it is essen- tial to avoid the attitude of “this is how we’ve always done it.” Several times, executives talked about the need to focus on the customer’s desired out- comes and build backwards from there. And they stressed that simply moving current processes to a new technolo- gy platform does not qualify as digital transformation.
COVID-19’s impact on
transformation
Although many customers were already moving in this direction, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated agencies’ efforts to transform their IT systems and processes. As a result, “COVID has really made us rethink how w e’re going to go to market in this new world,” an executive said.
Widely distributed workforces have heightened existing challeng- es, such as security. But the change has also presented new opportuni- ties. For example, hiring no longer has to be dictated by location and proximity.
“Why not hire the guy in Oklaho- ma instead of just the guy in Fort Meade?” one executive said.
During the pandemic, companies changed policies and procedures to ensure the safety and productivity of their employees. The consensus among the roundtable participants was that many of the changes will be permanent, particularly the emphasis on end results rather than punching a time clock.
In fact, the focus on outcomes came up several times during the dis- cussion and in two primary contexts: how the contractor workforce oper- ates and what the customer wants. That means focusing on whether company employees are meeting deadlines and delivering quality. It also means understanding what cus- tomers need and want.
Those insights can help contrac- tors make decisions about educa- tion and training for their workers, choose which technologies to apply to