Getting mired in long sales cycles and endless meetings that yield little to no results is one of the greatest risks small businesses face when pursuing Government contracts.  One of the critical success factors is understanding where, across the vast Federal landscape, to deploy sales and marketing resources to generate the greatest and quickest return.

At Marion Square we work closely with our clients to help them understand where to focus their resources and efforts in pursuit of Government contacts.  The nice thing about the Federal Government is the fact that agencies publish their budgets and priorities each year.  Understanding the Government budget and priorities can provide critical insight and guidance when planning your go to market strategy.

While the final FY 2022 budget has yet to be approved, (the Government is under a CR until Feb) there is quite a bit of data regarding what has been proposed and already agreed upon.  Below are some of the major highlights:

• At the highest level, the total Federal IT budget for FY 2022 is $97B.

• Federal Civilian agencies overall budget is approximately $58.4B for IT spend with the Dept of VA and DHS receiving the largest budgets of around $8B each.

• DoD is set to receive approximately $39B for IT spend with the Army leading the way at $12B. (Interesting note: all branches of the DoD saw an increase in their IT budget except for the USAF which saw its IT budget decrease by 1.7%)

There are some major focus areas and initiatives which the Government plans to invest in that standout for FY 2022:

• Cyber Security especially in the areas Zero Trust, Supply Chain Management, Ransomware Defense, and CMMC.

• Cloud Computing continues to be a main investment for all agencies mostly driven by teleworking requirements.

• DevSecOps specifically at DISA, USAF, Dept of State and Government Software Factories

• Artificial Intelligence spending is up 50% and is one of the fastest growing emerging technology areas especially AI used for Facial Recognition.

• Digital Services which are defined as citizen facing services and products, the Government has stated objectives to improve the Citizen user experience with the systems.

Knowing the basics around the Governments spend plan can be a tremendous help as organizations build out their resource, staffing, and go to market plans.  This information can help ensure you are targeting the right areas and receive the greatest and quickest return on your investment.