Joshua Sutton, MBA

🎖️ 𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗩𝗘𝗧𝗦 𝟮 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 Very informative article by GSA ITC’s Assistant Commissioner, Laura Stanton that highlights the VETS 2 GWAC program, designed to provide federal agencies with access to highly qualified SDVOSBs for IT services, promoting both technological excellence and veteran entrepreneurship. GSA’s VETS 2 GWAC increased its ceiling to $6.1 billion.  https://lnkd.in/edNDJ48n We are proud to announce that our firm, The Ventura Group, Inc. is one of the GSA VETS 2 GWAC prime contract holders. This prestigious contract supports federal agencies with top-tier IT solutions while promoting opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). Our dedication to excellence in Enterprise IT, Cybersecurity, and Cloud Services ensures mission success and compliance with the highest standards. Learn more about our capabilities and how we can support your Enterprise IT and Cybersecurity needs. #GSA #SDVOSB #governmentcontracting #Cybersecurity #govcon

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One year ago during the 2023 NFL Draft Christian Gonzalez and Roger Goodell were discussing a potential prospect coming available in 2024. Their conversation is listed below and let's just say whoever snags up David A. González Sr, MBA, PMP, Active TS/SCI will not be disappointed with his work ethic and professionalism. ***** Roger Goodell: Hey, Christian, ever had the pleasure of crossing paths with David A. Gonzalez Sr? Christian Gonzalez: Oh, indeed I have, Roger. Let me tell you, he's not your run-of-the-mill professional. David's got more tricks up his sleeve than a magician at a circus. Roger Goodell: Sounds intriguing. What's his secret sauce? Christian Gonzalez: Well, aside from his mastery in Operations Management and Operational Planning, he's got this knack for Team Building that's almost supernatural. I'm convinced he could turn a group of introverted IT geeks into a synchronized dance troupe. Roger Goodell: Now that's a sight I'd pay to see! Christian Gonzalez: And don't even get me started on his Technical Leadership. I once saw him fix a malfunctioning printer with nothing but a paperclip and a rubber band. Roger Goodell: Impressive! Sounds like he's MacGyver in a business suit. Christian Gonzalez: Exactly! And as for Organizational Leadership, let's just say he's the captain of the ship, navigating through stormy seas with a calm demeanor that would make Captain Jack Sparrow jealous. Roger Goodell: Ha! I can picture it now. Well, if ever I need someone to lead a crew through rough waters, I'll know who to call. Christian Gonzalez: You won't regret it, Roger. David's like a Swiss Army knife of skills - versatile, reliable, and always ready for action. He will hit Free Agency in October 2024 so make sure to keep an eye out for when he updates his LinkedIn to "#OpentoNetwork" as organizations will not want to pass up this opportunity. #management #technology #projectmanagement #leadership #networking

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If you want to learn about the history of how AFRL came to New Mexico, check out my podcast episode with the Albuquerque Journal!

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Watch Out for These Top DoD Contracts in the Final Quarter of 2024 📢 Federal government contractors have the opportunity to bid on some of the most rewarding contracts. The DoD is planning to spend $169.74 billion in award obligations, making it crucial to stay ahead. Key upcoming contracts to keep on your radar include: 📢 Army Contracting Commands Enterprise for Sourcing Services (ACCESS) 📢 CENTCOM Headquarters Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Professional Services (CHIPS) 📢 Microsoft Enterprise Services II, and more! Early planning and preparation are essential for securing these opportunities in Q4. 🔗 Read the full blog to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gwidbiXK

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📖 Write Your Own Success Story! 📖 “Write your own book instead of reading someone else’s book about success.” — Herb Brooks This powerful reminder from Herb Brooks challenges us to stop comparing our journey to others and focus on crafting our own path. 💡 Success isn't about following someone else's blueprint—it's about learning from experience, embracing your uniqueness, and writing your own story. Start creating your own version of success today. 🚀 #SuccessMindset #CreateYourPath #PersonalGrowth #Leadership #Motivation #WriteYourStory

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Is your software falling behind? In today’s fast-paced tech world, outdated processes won't cut it. As Rise8 Founder and CEO Bryon Kroger notes, “our ability to conduct future warfare will be about how quickly we can respond to the enemy with new software.” Rapid software updates can seem daunting for those used to conventional development, where it takes years to gather requirements, code, and test before software is eligible for an Authority to Operate (ATO). But you don’t have to sacrifice stability and security for speed. Learn how Rise8 accelerates software production while mitigating risks and ensuring secure, reliable delivery without the delays of outdated processes: https://lnkd.in/emsZenhz #cATO #DevOps #GovTech #NationalDefense 

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Is your team's full potential locked behind an imbalance of DoD and DoR? DoR may seem more aligned with waterfall methodologies, but it's crucial for agile teams too. While we can't predict every detail, our mission is to minimize uncertainty. On the flip side, investing in DoD improves quality and reduces waste—a clear win for agile teams. But how do we achieve this balance? #Communication is key! Ensure your product owner stays engaged, user stories follow the INVEST acronym, and the team welcomes feedback and learns from mistakes. New teams may struggle initially, but with time and experience, their DoR should shrink. Similarly, as teams mature, their DoD should expand. So, where do you stand?  #agile #scrum #projectmanagement #scrummaster ========================================= Connect & Follow me #prathibha for Insightful Content! Join me on a quest to 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐦 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲! =========================================

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Prioritizing your data and closely monitoring access to it should be a top priority! This advice comes from Regional VP of DoD, Justin Wilkins, who recently discussed effective strategies for safeguarding critical information in federal agencies during an interview with Scoop News Group. One quote resonates well with the work we are doing across the DoD, particularly within the US Navy and United States Marine Corps Justin emphasizes, "It's a matter of when not if, and if I'm monitoring what users are doing, I'm in a good position to reduce the uncertainty, improve my visibility, and ultimately, limit the amount of time an attacker has to cause damage." Highlighting the importance of understanding access rights, automating risk remediation, and implementing solutions for activity monitoring and analytics to fortify federal security amidst rising threats. Taking a data-first approach, including accurate data classification, is crucial for implementing effective security measures. Protecting critical data is essential, and proactive measures can significantly enhance overall security posture. Any questions, feel free to reach out. 🎥 Watch his full interview here:

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Beyond excited to announce the launch of the Platform One Solutions Marketplace! Huge shout out to the team and everyone who worked on this incredible leap forward in government acquisitions. Some of the many highlights: 1. Continuously open solicitation - Industry can submit DevSecOps solutions and be evaluated continuously, unlimited proposal submissions and evals every 30 days. 2. A digital, web based medium for DoD users to conduct market research with vendors in a post competition environment and immediately negotiate and award a variety of contracts and agreements. 3. A major focus on non-traditionals, startups, small business, commercial products and services, due to a very low barrier to entry and continuous feedback loops. 4. The P1SM is completely decentralized, allowing all other DoD users to use the marketplace without paying a fee or ordering authority training by meeting all the competition requirements for OTA's (10 USC 4021 and 4022), CSO's (DFARS 212.70) and BAA's (FAR/DFAR Part 35).

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Funding for cybersecurity operations centers, along with the talent to run them, can be hard to come-by for institutions of higher education. One means of addressing this is the model of student-run SOCs, which are springing up at major colleges and universities around the country as ransomware and other cyber attacks continue to increase in prevalence within Education. Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking with Craig Woolley, the CIO of Louisiana State University, who implemented a student-run SOC last year. The program has experienced high levels of success, and by April of '24 had gone live in 13 schools over the previous 18 months. Some quick highlights from the conversation: ⚡ Centered around Splunk due to best-in-breed Enterprise Security and Observability capabilities. ⚡ Public / Private partnership between the State of Louisiana and TekStream, an MSSP headquartered in Atlanta, to both protect educational institutions and increase the talent-pool and skill-level of SOC analysts across the state. ⚡ Students are employees of the university, and LSU and TekStream train the aspiring student-SOC-Analysts on real-world incidents. LSU saves money on each ticket resolved by their students. ⚡ Each school onboarded has it's own Splunk instance, which the students run during regular business hours, and is backed by TekStream's 24x7 SOC monitoring. ⚡ Student excitement along with buy-in from all stakeholders, from the Governor of Louisiana to the CIO of TekStream to the President of the University, is what has driven the success of this initiative. Next on the agenda for LSU is to follow a "franchise model," expanding and opening the program up to any school in the country to join their "neighborhood" and leverage the infrastructure, processes, and pricing which LSU secured. Minnesota colleges and universities have observed this success and are looking to follow a similar model in order to provide much-needed security-operations services to public and private organizations alike. Many thanks to Mr. Woolley for the insights! To learn more, check out LSU's posting on the program here:

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Over the past few years the team at Summit 7 has had more than 3,600 conversations with individual defense contractors of all sizes. And the number one question, by far? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲? But, while the DoD provides very loose estimates for the cost of CMMC assessments, they have never estimated the cost of implementing the security requirements assessed by CMMC. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗲: DoD thinks companies should be spending 𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟬.𝟱% of revenue on security. However, the government has estimated the cost to implement and maintain NIST SP 800-53, the big brother to NIST SP 800-171. Since we know a little something about both, we did some math. We framed the numbers against our own operations and the solutions we've engineered for nearly 1,000 defense contractors and made it into a webinar that you can watch on-demand. Register at the links below 👇

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Could you imagine something like this happening to your business? The city of Wichita Kansas had to shutdown their IT systems on Sunday 5/5/24 due to a Ransomware attack. The city says that first responders are still providing services, with police and fire departments having to switch to business continuity measures where necessary. As for online payment systems for things like water, court citations and tickets - these services are all offline. If you are stressing over what you would do if this happened to your business then give MIS Solutions, Inc. a call. We have a team of experts that can assess your situation and help ensure that your business is well protected. Don't stress call MIS - 770-945-5487

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Opportunities, opportunities, opportunities

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For all my fellow DoD Nerds and Innovators out there struggling with funding/procurement: End of FY is approaching and things are getting “dynamic” as always - hang in there! Ask for help where you can and don’t turn down help to anyone who’s asking. Don’t have time? Make time. 1AM is healthy in small doses. More than anywhere else, Q4 is where we build those vital relationships. People need names, contacts, contracting help, etc and they need it fast. Whatever you need, I PROMISE there’s a contract vehicle to get it for you so rely unapologetically on your SMEs and friends. But here’s my time-tested strategy for securing funding: October/Q1 is no time to hit the cruise control. Our battle rhythm as Innovators is cryptic, and off-time with the rest of the force. As the rest of the base winds down, they leave room for us fill the void and get ahead. FM and contracting will finally have time for your calls and can advise you on good strategies. I will submit to you the following unsolicited advice: you have until the end of Christmas break to decide on new projects for FY25. You have until March to have your supporting documentation finalized along with completed/submitted UFRs to both MAJCOM and your Wing. And you need those three months in Q2 to sell and market your ideas to decision-makers. Start reporting good ROIs to your previous investors where possible. By June, your chances of success will have gone up dramatically if you stick to these unwritten deadlines. Understanding and exploiting the tempo of fallout funding will put you ahead of your peers and ensure higher rates of success…June is for scrambling, shifting gears, and all manner of “agile procurement strategies”. It is definitely not the time to start planning! Make a pot of coffee and finish strong; good luck my friends… ARCWERX

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🚨 Is your agency drowning in legacy code? 🚨 For many Federal Civilian Agencies, outdated systems are not just a challenge—they're a roadblock to innovation. The cost of maintaining legacy systems is rising, and the technical debt keeps piling up. But there’s hope! 💡 AI can be a powerful tool to modernize and automate legacy code, reducing both costs and complexity. Join the ACT-IAC Associates ET: MAI team for an insightful virtual session on: ✅ The growing challenge of legacy code ✅ How AI can accelerate modernization efforts ✅ The risks and best practices for successful AI-powered transformations Date: November 19th @ 12 - 1:30 PM Register here: https://lnkd.in/eAAJMZJx #LegacyCode #AIAutomation #TechModernization #GovTech #ACTIAC #InnovationInGovernment #ETCOI #Associates Robert Wuhrman Frederic de Vaulx Alan Himler Tim Gilday Martial Michel Erin Fitzgibbons Jessica Price Jorge Ferrer, MD, MBA, FAMIA, FHIMSS Michael Berkholtz Pete Tseronis Jerry Hagedorn David Daniel Hernandez Chunlei Ding Paul Tibbits, MD Karlene Stecchi Jeremy Wood

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We fix this! RevUp's fractional development offering can help you fill in the gaps in your fundraising function - on your budget.

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It's funny, because it's true... It’s easy to get overwhelmed with leads in GovCon and get trapped in the cycle of phone calls and low response rates with no time to make sense of it all. There is a lot great knowledge and insight floating around on federal business development tied to capture or proposal development.  Before tapping into that, however, it IS worth taking the time to make sense of your leads and opportunities and decide what is actually WORTH capturing. For smaller businesses and nontraditional partners, this is especially critical, as resources are limited. Federal business success is so relationship driven that it’s always a little bit scrappy. Especially in defense, where people are constantly changing roles.  Despite that, it IS possible to approach the market strategically.  At a high level, I recommend following the steps below: ➡️ Start with Relationships Evaluate existing connections and their alignment with your goals. Prioritize those with strong traction and influence, while critically assessing if the opportunity aligns with your long-term strategy. ➡️ Zoom Out to Macro Trends Analyze DoD-wide initiatives, spending trends, and program categories relevant to your capabilities. This step helps identify where to focus your efforts beyond current relationships. ➡️ Dig Into the Details Once you understand the big picture, align your offerings with specific programs and budgeted opportunities. Focus on consistent spenders and clear mission alignment. This process should result in a dynamic priority list that evolves as you gather new insights. Use it to guide outreach, align your team, and pivot resources as needed. The key is balancing strategy with agility. When done right, this approach will help you maximize impact and capture meaningful opportunities.  As a bonus, it will help you tailor your messaging and drive more impactful engagements.  📔 Read the full article for a detailed step by step approach to prioritizing opportunities: https://lnkd.in/gufMQPyD ⁉️ How do you prioritize your efforts? Share your thoughts below!

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