From Jim Garrettson, Executive Mosaic President & Founder
Two top information technology leaders at the Defense Department provided an update this week on efforts to consolidate the agency’s IT infrastructure and optimize resources.
David Bennett, CIO at the Defense Information Systems Agency, said the Pentagon will likely classify all 10 of DISA’s enterprise computing centers as core data centers that will work to help users share applications.
“We’re able to leverage the DECC infrastructure as a means to support that increased usage and demand without having to increase the number of facilities to support the population,” Bennett said.
Alfred Rivera, DISA vice director for strategic planning, described how the agency examined its enterprise and looked to reduce facilities in its consolidation strategy.“We built functional expertise in certain areas and selected some centers to support specific mission partners,” Rivera said.
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The Army’s long-term technology investment plans and the GovCon sector’s role in helping bring new tools to warfighters were the main topics of discussionWednesday at the Potomac Officers Club‘s “Army Enterprise IT Requirements Summit.”
Mike Krieger, deputy CIO for the Army, kicked off the forum by outlining the branch’s plans to get a grasp of the different applications it uses across the enterprise.Krieger also previewed the Army’s efforts to build up a specialized force dedicated to cyber defense.
Mark Orndorff, DISA’s mission assurance executive and designated accrediting authority, detailed the government’s work to approve GovCon firms to provide cloud computing products to agencies.He also gave the audience a glimpse into the agency’s partnership with the Army to bring unified communications and mobility technologies to soldiers.
Diana Gowen Named Principal Consultant at Deep Water Point
Diana Gowen will serve as a principal consultant for civilian and defense clients at Deep Water Point.She most recently served as the head of CenturyLink’s public sector business where she led the firm’s federal government contracts.
“[Gowen will] help our clients achieve higher degrees of success as we face a myriad of opportunities across the IT and telecommunications market,” said John Johnson, a former assistant commissioner from GSA and a partner at Deep Water Point.
Gowen held leadership roles at MCI Government Markets and AT&T prior to CenturyLink.
Brad Center Joins HighPoint Global
Brad Center has been appointed to a offering development role at HighPoint Global and will work with commercial and public sector clients.
Center has previously worked at Deloitte Services and SAIC as a head of business development.
“Brad’s wealth of experience and industry knowledge has already made him a key addition to the HighPoint family,” said Tom Miller, vice president of business development and marketing at HighPoint.
The 20-year industry veteran has also spent time at Karta Technologies and Definitive Business Solutions.
Paul Strasser Appointed FedCap Partners Subsidiary PPC CEO
Paul Strasser is now the CEO of FedCap Partners subsidiary PPC. where he has succeeded the retiring Harry Thornsvard.Strasser most recently served as an SVP and GM at Engility and was a corporate officer at Dynamic Research Corp. before it was purchased by Engility.
“Paul’s background and reputation represents FedCap’s commitment to build PPC into a leading technology and management consulting company,” Rick Knop, a FedCap managing partner.
Strasser served as COO of Pragmatics earlier in his career.
Cubic Adds Twyman, Knowles to Defense Leadership Team
Mike Twyman has been named SVP of the communications, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance division at Cubic Corp.’s defense business unit.A former SVP and GM at Northrop Grumman, Twyman will oversee program and strategy execution across Cubic’s defense portfolio.
Mike Knowles has become the VP and deputy GM of air ranges and Live-Virtual-Constructive integrated training at Cubic Defense.
Knowles is also a Northrop veteran and worked at Rockwell Collins for 10 years prior to joining Cubic.
Thomas Kennedy Named Chairman of Raytheon’s Board
Thomas Kennedy has been elected chairman of Raytheon’s board of directors and will succeed William Swanson on Oct. 1.Kennedy became CEO of Raytheon in the spring and previously served as EVP and COO.
“On behalf of the board, I would like to express our deepest appreciation for Bill’s strong leadership and sound judgment as chairman of the Raytheon Board,” said Adm. Vern Clark, lead director of Raytheon.
Swanson joined Raytheon in 1972 and served as CEO of the company from 2003 to 2014.