DISA seeks help with net-centricity

Telecommunications vendors need to pay more attention to net-centricity, the move away from isolated systems to network-based information accessible from anywhere, a top Defense Information Systems Agency official said today.

Speaking to an industry audience at the TeleStrategies conference in McLean, Va., DISA Component Acquisition Executive Anthony Montemarano said net-centricity is no passing trend.

"I think it's here and I don't think it's going anywhere," he said. "I've had many of your friends come to talk to me about products and I never hear the words 'net-centricity.' Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't get the feeling you are interested, and we can't do it without you."

The mind-set about technology and how it is bought, sold and used is changing, Montemarano said. Delivering information to soldiers in the field requires networks, and making a network useful requires approaching it as a whole. What matters to the end user is whether needed information is available fast.

"Everybody's got to start thinking about testing a service," he said. "Not testing a circuit. Not testing an application. Testing a service."

He advised the contractors in the audience to compete for contracts in order to make them attractive to agencies.

The government, he said, takes the path of least resistance. Companies that have good technology offerings and technological service skills but aren't on contracts to make it easy for agencies to do business with them are unlikely to arouse much interest.

"If you're not on a contract, how are we going to get to you?" he said.