The ways of some winners

Our feature story this issue doesn't tell you how much government agencies are spending on IT services or what they intend to buy. But it will tell you a lot about the people who are doing that buying and what they expect from government contractors. Staff Writer Gail Emery Repsher talked with the winners of the first Government Computer News Management Leadership Awards to find how they manage their staffs and the multitudes of contractors that serve their agencies. (like is published by PostNewsweek Tech Media.) The winners are impressive, not just in what they've accomplished, but also in their willingness to pass along credit to those around them. "I always say 'we' -- I never say I do any of this," Clint Swett said. Swett, who is a technology director for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, treats contractors as part of his staff. "I don't have any second-class citizens here," he said. The top IT managers also told Emery what they look for when hiring a contractor. "The contractors that are here to help me be successful, if I called them in the middle of the night, they would just go do it because they are my partner," said Bob Otto, chief technology officer at the U.S. Postal Service. If you want to know more about your customer, look no further than our cover story.