As competitive intelligence (CI) analysts, we’re almost always trying to find the answer to a question regarding some aspect of a major GOVCON business. While we rarely ever can answer the question definitively, we can usually provide likely answers and explanations based on available information. Whether or not you’re a CI analyst, this can be…
If you’re in the business of winning new business, it demands an extraordinary level of creativity, skill, and focus. We embrace these same concepts in execution of competitive intelligence and Black Hat reviews. When we work with capture teams during the Black Hat review phase of any complex capture, there are many competing priorities and…
KBR’s Government Solutions (recently renamed from KBRwyle) business supports defense, space, aerospace, and other U.S. federal programs. KBR supports missions including research and development, systems engineering and integration, test and evaluation, mission planning, operations support, maintenance, and field logistics. They have been significantly diversifying their services in recent years – this is not just the…
Only a year later after General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) made the move to acquire CSRA, we’re living in a different (but same) world. We’ve been through eras of consolidation and divestitures over and over again. General Dynamics Information Technology – 1 year later How did today’s GDIT come together even if we define it…
ECS Federal (ECS) is an IT provider re-inventing itself through acquisitions (and through being acquired), and by re-focusing its portfolio of services and contracts. The company appears to be shifting away from IT infrastructure support, management, and operations, towards a new focus cloud, cybersecurity, IT modernization, and advanced R&D, science, engineering services. This is evident…
Whenever we execute a competitive analysis or black hat session, the first thing we consider is the customer. Every competitor is focused on making that customer believe that their solution is the best choice. Identifying and integrating customer needs, wants, and fears into analysis, including Black Hat reviews, is critical to guarantee that our efforts…
Serco should be a familiar name to companies in and around the government contracting space. In this round of competitor highlights, we will take a look into Serco, Inc. the North American Division of the global, UK-based services provider Serco Group Plc. Incorporated in North America in 1988, Serco Inc. operates out of Reston, VA…
Intelligence. There are many definitions of intelligence, but we like the below definition in particular. “Intelligence deals with all the things which should be known in advance of initiating a course of action.” Whether you work in a national security role or not, this definition has additional meaning as we apply it to competing in…
“The Fox knows many things, but the Hedgehog knows one big thing.” – Archilochus, a Greek poet, as quoted by the philosopher Isaiah Berlin. This quote’s interpretation has been debated since it was published in 1953. In a literal sense, the Fox – despite his cunning and ingenuity – can be defeated by the Hedgehog’s…
Alion Science & Technology (Alion) is an interesting mid-tier and a likely under-appreciated competitor by many federal contractors. Alion was founded out of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)’s Research Foundation of Armour Institute of Technology in 1936 with the goal of testing and developing new technologies. Today, Alion continues to provide engineering solutions in…
