From Jim Garrettson, Executive Mosaic President & Founder
The government has outlined how cloud computing service providers can adapt to new federal security standards that are scheduled for release in June.
The General Services Administrationworked with the departments ofDefense and Homeland Security to develop the roadmap, which is based on revised security control guidelines from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Agencies are faced with the challenge of both opening and securing their cloud environments and have often called upon GovCon firms and leaders to develop ideas for accomplishing both goals.
James Kilbride works on projects to secure the cloud at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems andtold ExecutiveBiz that “the key to a successful cloud adoption is that the level of security will need to be able to vary based on the information of the processing going on within it.”
George Newstrom, VP and GM of Dell’s federal government services arm, also overviewed how GovCon firms and agencies can collaborate to adopt a “layered approach” for cloud security in a recent interview with us.
“We need to understand clearly what our government clients want to accomplish with IT,” Newstrom noted.
“This will help drive the right IT solution to meet the government’s need, including, change management, doing more with less, or providing better service delivery to the ultimate client, which is the citizen of the United States.”
Check out those and more executive spotlights on the leading topics in GovCon at ExecutiveBiz and continue reading below for the headline-leading executive activity in GovCon this week.
The SI Org Eyes Acquires QinetiQ NA Services Group
The SI Organization will pay up to $215 million to acquire QinetiQ North America‘s services and solutions group.
The transaction does not include QNA‘s Cyveillance subsidiary and is intended to create a business with $1.3 billion in revenue and 4,800 employees.
Mac Curtis, The SI CEO, said the company aims to grow its presence in adjacent markets such as the defense, homeland security, aerospace and federal civilian segments.
Both companies expect to close the deal in the second quarter of 2014.
Chris Formant Appointed Verizon Enterprise Solutions President
Chris Formant has been named president at Verizon Enterprise Solutions and will oversee the telecommunications company’s enterprise technology portfolio.
Formant most recently served as a group president and senior vice president at Avaya, where he was responsible for government offerings, professional services and global services organizations.
John Stratton, a Verizon corporate EVP and president of the wireline business, said Formant will work with clients around the world on enterprise technology tools.
Formant has also held leadership roles at MBNA and PwC and has served as an investment adviser to several technology startups.
Keith Salzman Heads to IBM Federal as Chief Medical Information Officer
Keith Salzman has joined the U.S. federal practice of IBM as chief medical information officer.
He most recently held the same role atCACI International for nearly three years after a 22-year career in the U.S. Army.
Salzman led work to implement informatics at an Army medical center in Washington state and also helped lead clinical services in Kosovo and Heidelberg, Germany.
Parsons Buys Secure Mission Solutions
Parsons has acquired Reston, Va.-based Secure Mission Solutions and will integrate SMS into Parsons’ government services business unit, which is led by Mary Ann Hopkins.
Chuck Harrington, Parsons chairman and CEO, said the acquisition is part of Parsons’ strategy to grow its national security and defense offerings.
SMS has more than 550 employees that provide services to agencies in cybersecurity, virtualization, cloud computing and data center consolidation.
Mark Forman Named TASC IT, Cloud Services VP
Mark Forman has been appointed VP for information technology and cloud services at TASC.
“His leadership will help support our civil-agency customers with innovation for cloud computing and for complex IT systems,” said Bruce Phillips, SVP of TASC’s sector for cybersecurity, signals intelligence, infrastructure and security.
Forman is a 29-year GovCon veteran who co-founded and led Government Transaction Services LLC as CEO and worked at TASC from 1985 to 1989.