Page 60 - FCW, August 2021

GOVERNMENT EAGLE AWARD
Craig Abod:
TAKING THE PAIN OUT OF PROCUREMENT
IT acquisition is dauntingly difficult for government customers and would-be vendors alike — so much so that innovative technology firms sometimes steer clear of the public sector entirely. For 17 years, Craig Abod and Carahsoft have been working to make those purchases easier and more effective.
The result is an ecosystem of roughly 500 indus- try partners delivering analytics, artificial intelligence, cloud, cybersecurity, DevSecOps, customer experi- ence and other solutions through dozens of different federal contract vehicles. (Carahsoft also serves the education and state and local government mar- kets.) The success of that ecosystem is apparent in Carahsoft’s performance — the 1,900-person firm now ranks 61st on Forbes’ list of America’s larg-
est privately held companies, and is the largest IT software and services company on that list. But the more important indicators are on the customer side, where agencies have been able to accelerate their technology acquisition and deployment.
The latest example of Abod’s career-long com- mitment to helping government learn about and procure effective IT solutions is Carahsoft’s Cloud Purchasing Program. Launched in 2020, the CPP dramatically simplifies the cloud procurement
process and covers services from more than 90 vendors. Government customers can acquire
cloud products and services from multiple vendors through a single SKU. More than a dozen other resellers participate in the CPP, and federal agencies can purchase via NASA SEWP, the Army’s ITES- SW2 contract, and the General Services Administra- tion’s Multiple Award Schedule Contract.
The customer benefits have been quick and clear. There were 94 CPP awards made in the first 12 months, and the Department of Defense’s Cloud Com puting Program Office picked CPP to mod- ernize its infrastructure, noting that it was the only solution found that “met the CPPO requirements for providing flexible and rapid access to a wide variety of clouds to support real-time operations.” A senior DOD executive confirmed to FCW that CPP has a been a substantial help to defense agencies in particular.
CPP’s combination of customer service, aggres- sive pricing and extensive education and training
is typical of Abod’s approach to business — and illustrates his commitment to connecting as many customers and companies possible in order to help government perform better.
58 August 2021 FCW.COM
ZAID HAMID