Leidos partnered with, and is now buying, 1901 Group for managed services capabilities

Leidos executive Gerry Fasano describes what drew the company to partner with and now acquire 1901 Group, plus how both companies have taken similar approaches to serving their customers.

Leidos sees its pending $215 million acquisition of the 1901 Group announced after markets closed Thursday as more capability-focused than a need to add new customers.

Though here are some of 1901 Group’s Cabinet-level customers for the record: the departments of Justice, Agriculture, Education and Health and Human Services. Other clients they call out are the Small Business Administration, Army, U.S. Access Board and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The capability driver is about cloud and manage IT services, something Leidos recognized as a need.

“We really like our position today in the digital modernization market, but as we look to continue to stay ahead and differentiate, we saw the market going to more integrated managed services capability-based desires by the customers," said Gerry Fasano, Leidos' lead defense executive.

A brief look at how IT was done in the past continues to help see the future. Fasano pointed out that laptops for the most part today do not rely on CDs to get software updates but instead get them through a subscription-based model.

“You’re buying your apps as a service, you’re buying your storage as a service, you’re buying your Internet already as a service,” Fasano told me.

Enter 1901 Group into that broader picture, with whom Leidos has partnered with to “submit a couple of deals” as Fasano explained it. He added the nearly 400 employees at 1901 Group bring to Leidos skillsets in areas like network monitoring, migration and application rationalization.

One core piece of Reston, Virginia-headquartered 1901 Group’s strategy since its 2009 launch has been where it provides the cloud-based services from and not just the work itself. The company has an enterprise IT operations center in Blacksburg, Virginia, which means close proximity to Virginia Tech, and has similar facilities in other regions not traditionally thought of as tech talent hubs.

That mirrors what Leidos has done with its software factories that include the flagship hub in Morgantown, the home of West Virginia University.

Leidos is not the only large government technology contractor to look outside greater Washington, D.C. for new talent pools including other college-centric communities.

“Going down to Blacksburg and talking to (1901 Group), it’s the exact same model… college town, highly-skilled workforce, low cost of living with great retention,” Fasano said. “We’re very comfortable with this model, we have continued to expand our software factories and are looking forward to doing that with 1901 once the deal closes in January.”

A second aspect of looking forward is how the IT services delivery model has changed during the coronavirus pandemic in a world of remote work and what that portends for the future after what we all hope is a successful vaccination effort next year.

“(Customers) are always comfortable with the infrastructure being separate, and I think COVID has made people more comfortable with the people being separate,” Fasano said. “Our customers are going there, we’re going there and it’s a natural progression that we see.”

“There’s not a customer we’ve talk to who does not believe that the teleworking won’t continue, not at the magnitude that it is today which is almost everybody, but they’re not going back,” he said.

1901 Group’s pending sale to Leidos also represents an exit by Enlightenment Capital, the government market-focused investment firm which initially backed the former in 2017.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.