Sequestration's pain is yet to come

Once the 2013 budget was settled, industry and government breathed a sigh of relief. The crisis was averted. We have some budget visibility, at least for the next few months.

Yes, sequestration kicked in, but, hey, it hasn’t been that bad, right?

But I think some folks have forgotten that sequestration was never going to have a sudden impact. It would take weeks and months before its impact would occur. That’s why, so far, sequestration has really only been talk: "This is what we might do," "This is what can happen."

4 win $404M DISA IT support contract

Four small businesses have won a five-year, $404.1 million contract to provide support services to the Defense Information Systems Agency’s IT Enterprise. And one task order worth $111.3 million has already been awarded to one of them.

The four companies on the DISA IT Enteprirse Support Services or DESS contract are:

BAE names new SVP of government relations

BAE Systems has named Frank Ruggiero senior vice president of government relations, where he oversee the company’s relationships with members of Congress, the Defense Department, and other cabinet-level organizations and state government leaders.

He replaces Erin Moseley, who was promoted to president of the company’s Support Solutions sector in the middle of February.

103 deals chasing the next big thing

Several factors were at play in the 103 mergers and acquisitions that closed in 2012, but two common themes were transformation and anticipation.

The prevailing wisdom says that in a market where budget uncertainty rules the day, investing millions in an acquisition might not be a wise use of resources. But government contractors are forever in search of the next hot opportunity. That above all else is what Washington Technology’s annual M&A roundup teaches us.

Who made 2012's biggest deals?

Our dedicated group of mergers and acquisition experts combed through the 103 deals in our annual round up and picked the best deals in a variety of categories.

This year we have thirteen categories and some are noteworthy for the size but size isn’t the deciding factors. These transactions in many cases were transformative and either created new players or took established companies and strengthened their position in the market.

Microsoft sets sights on Amazon with cloud offering

Microsoft is set to open a new service that competes with Amazon’s cloud offering, according to The New York Times. The company has been testing its service with customers over the past year, and feels confident enough to commit to match Amazon’s prices for its cloud service, the Elastic Compute Cloud.

Raytheon wins $30M Navy contract to improve battlefield sensors

Raytheon Co. has won a $30 million contract modification with the U.S. Navy for design agent and engineering services in support of the Cooperative Engagement Capabilities program, or CEC.

This modification is cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only, the Defense Department said in a release.

Maybe there's an easier way to find cloud vendors

If you’re an enterprise customer looking to find the right cloud vendors, then InspectorJones.com might be the right stop for you, according to The Sacramento Bee. Inspector Jones is said to give companies a way to find the best fit for their company, focusing on reviews of cloud service quality. These reviews cover things like security measures, compliance with standards, company health, data centers, and general track record, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Damian Bramanis, Inspector Jones founder, described what it was like beginning such a venture, telling the Bee that the “search was painstaking. There are a lot of cloud vendors, and it's not easy to figure out who's good and who's not."

GD Electric Boat wins $9.5M contract mod for sub work

General Dynamics Electric Boat has won a $9.5 million contract modification with the U.S. Navy for maintenance and modernization work on the submarine USS Hartford.

This modification is part of a $67 million contract awarded to General Dynamics Electric Boat in April 2012.

Under the contract, the company will perform work at the company’s shipyard in Groton, Conn., General Dynamics said in a release. The USS Hartford is a Los Angeles-class attack submarine.

Work is expected to be completed by September.

The cloud is nice, but don't forget collaboration

Cloud computing is the topic of conversation all over the market, with more and more companies and government agencies making the big switch, but with such popularity comes a risk of missing the point: the challenges of managing and collaborating on files are not automatically solved by moving to the cloud, said Gigaom.com.