Cora Carmody’s Post

How Third Party Sourcing Elevates Credence and Credibility To demonstrate experience and expertise, the #marketers at Kratos Defense and Security Solutions invest in a thought leadership campaign called "Constellations." A multi-source content creation approach delivers a unique perspective, while also conferring third-party validation. Note the respected analysts quoted in this article. Well played! #ContentMarketing #ThoughtLeadership #DemandGeneration #B2BMarketing #PublicSectorMarketing #IndustryMarketing https://lnkd.in/ei57R77k

The 2024 Defense Acquisition Workforce Writing Awards recognize original ideas and innovative approaches to tackling challenges and implementing acquisition flexibilities. The award winners showcased exceptional skill in enabling acquisition and achieving the goals set out in the National Defense Strategy (NDS) and were awarded at the event. “I’ve never seen a defense strategy that had so many phrases that tell you we need to do things differently,” noted DAU President Jim Woolsey. “Organizations don’t change easily,” Woolsey remarked. However, the acquisition community must innovate and adapt to address new challenges arising from the evolving global environment, near-peer competitors and rapid technological advancements. DoD has received “massive wake up calls” with lessons learned from evolving conflicts. These awards highlight the value Congress places on the workforces’ innovative ideas. The winners received their awards and presented their publications to program management students and guests during a ceremony at DAU on June 12, 2024. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eg7RmckU

Defense Prime SBIR leads spoke at the Fall Tech Connect conference today, and shared their organizational structures, needs, systems for connecting with small business suppliers who can partner in their corporate Roadmaps…it was always a mystery…how do you get in with these guys, lol? Amazing: they are actively looking for partnerships of mutual benefit. 😏 BAE SYSTEMS RTX-RAYTHEON LOCKHEED NORTHRUP GRUMMAN BOEING Key Takeaways: - Research Prime contractor’s SBIR/STTR organization structure to better understand the technologies or topics they’re targeting.  - SBIR/STTR is facilitated at the corporate level, so the Prime’s SBIR/STTR POC can help connect a small business with the right partner in the company.  - Think about what commercialization looks like as you’re thinking about partnering with a Prime. Start this planning as early as practicable. - In acquisition, Prime contractors transition and integrate technologies into program offices of record and assist with overcoming the valley of death. Finding those partnership opportunities as early as possible is critical. - Relationships are key and building trust over time improves success. Did I say TRUST? It’s “wicked important,” RTX-Raytheon leader said! It goes both ways: NDA’s signed up front to protect all parties, and if they make an OFFER to acquire your IP, that’s a negotiation not a STEAL! 😉 …oh, and they use encrypted email systems, protect your data and offer instructions for sharing information at each step so you are comfortable. -Primes can help you build the relationship with the Technical Point of Contact and mentor small businesses through SBIR/STRR processes. They love this program. They are cheerleaders and champions of your commercial success! -To get on their list, develop the relationships early—each company does outreach and communications regarding their immediate (and future) opportunities and has dedicated SBIR TEAMS! Who knew? I believed them. Hope I get some of my clients on such a path one day soon. Small business gets bigger! #SBIR #workingwithprimes #TechConnect

Interesting and relevant analysis on non-FAR contracts / Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs). Top three takeaways: 1️⃣ Keep crushing it, Army! The Army continues to make big moves with OTAs and leads the way in leveraging innovative contracting methods to accelerate capabilities. 2️⃣ Navy, what’s going on? DARPA, SCO, and DIU, not Navy, have delivered most of the Navy’s uncrewed ships and submarines. NIWCs and Warfare Centers have seemed to crack the code, but Navy PEOs are lagging behind. Time to catch up! 3️⃣ Big primes still dominate. Despite all the buzz, only 1% of awarded OTAs are flowing to defense tech start-ups / small businesses. 📈 Progress is happening, but there’s so much more we can do! #OTAs #DefenseInnovation #USMC #DoDReform #Acquisition #DIU

Happy Friday my friends! I hope you’ve had a fantastic week and have a great weekend ahead. Continuing the thread of Canadian productivity lagging our friends to the south, my post today is on the magical mix of people, process and technology. I talked yesterday how a great technology can supercharge your team, like how Vanta has enabled the team at Kobalt.io to run better, more cost effective security and compliance programs for our clients. It seems obvious on the surface, but if you have a vCISO who ignores technology and its ability to empower your security program - no matter how talented they are they are working with one hand tied behind their back. The same is true of a solid process. I’m often told by clients of proposals from competitors that are literal “buckets of hours” with no attempt to indicate the process or methodology the organization is led through. When you do something as a consultant for the first time, that’s a pretty normal approach. But after 10 or 50 or 100s, you should be following a baked process based on learnings and best practices. Process is experience codified. For example, our repeatable process on how we run security programs drives better outcomes, lower cost and much higher predictability than someone building a security program for the first time inside an organization. Hopefully you too, are leaning into this magical mix, driving higher productivity as a business and fueling economic growth. Then we all win. Have a great weekend!

Drata's Acquisition of oak9: A Game Changer for Compliance Automation In a strategic move that underscores the evolving landscape of #compliancetechnology, Drata has announced its acquisition of oak9, signaling a significant advancement in integrating #compliance across the software development lifecycle (#SDLC). This merger is poised to transform how compliance is managed from #code to #production, marking a new era for #Governance, #RiskManagement, and #Compliance #GRCpractices. What This Means: Drata's pioneering "Compliance as Code" is now in beta and stands as the only GRC platform that ensures continuous monitoring both before and after deployment. This approach shifts away from the traditional, manual, and reactive compliance models that often lead to costly and inefficient last-minute scrambles to address issues post-deployment. Why It Matters: The integration of oak9 into Drata's ecosystem enhances the cloud-native compliance platform, allowing GRC teams to seamlessly incorporate continuous compliance throughout the SDLC. This not only saves countless hours but also embeds compliance deeply within the development processes, thus preventing potential misconfigurations and compliance lapses before they occur. The Big Picture: Contextualizing #ComplianceRisks: Drata's Compliance as Code delivers high-fidelity risk alerts directly tied to specific compliance frameworks and policies, enabling developers to understand and rectify issues promptly with provided code snippets. Alignment with Continuous #GRCMonitoring: The merger enhances real-time visibility into compliance and risk postures by 80%, promoting a proactive rather than reactive approach to risk management. Cultural Shift in #DevOps: This acquisition promotes a 'shift left' approach, integrating compliance early in the development stages, thus fostering a culture where compliance and development go hand in hand without compromising #innovation or speed. Looking Ahead: As the industry continues to evolve, the combination of Drata and oak9's capabilities is set to redefine the standards of compliance automation. By enabling an #infrastructure where compliance is an integral part of the development process, Drata is not only enhancing #security and #efficiency but also paving the way for a future where GRC is embedded in every phase of product development. The strategic acquisition of oak9 by Drata is a clear indicator of the growing importance of compliance automation in today's digital landscape, promising more streamlined, secure, and efficient development processes across industries. Congratulations Adam Markowitz Troy Markowitz Om Vyas and the teams at Drata and oak9! #ComplianceAutomation #Cybersecurity #GRC #TechAcquisition #Innovation https://lnkd.in/eZD5DWPx

“…there is a pervasive lack of urgency within the Department. This culture of complacency is characterized by avoiding accountability and risk. Leaders within the DoD often fail to support innovators, defaulting instead to maintaining the status quo. This reluctance to embrace change is heightened by the Department’s reliance on a rigid 20-year career track, which is increasingly incompatible with the demands of 21st-century talent management. Externally, there exists a communication disconnect between the DoD and industry. The Department is a remarkably challenging customer for the startup ecosystem, where the most cutting-edge technology resides. The acquisition ecosystem is so detached from the warfighter’s needs that collaboration becomes virtually impossible. This gap must be bridged to ensure that the latest technological advancements are effectively integrated into defense strategies.” https://lnkd.in/ek5sKhsp

It's no secret the DOD's acquisition pipeline is beyond antiquated, and full of waste; programs taking up vital budget dollars for years, even decades, whilst delivering over budget, behind schedule, and underperforming products that the tax payer has no choice but to pay for based on its contracting theory from the 1960's and 1970's. Make it make sense! If we're expected to be able to provide the free world with technological innovation, then we must have a sane, quick, clear, fair, and controllable pipeline that we can all contribute to that gives the end user the best options possible, not the government as a whole, or the contractor(s) writ large. The acquisitions process of today is full of great people trying to do their best with a tool set from the cold war, and it shows. If we don't make the hard choices now and stabilize & reinvigorate the DOD's acquisitions process, both large & small, we're going to pay a sorely high price for our complacency later; and complacency kills. "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them." -Albert Einstein

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Good and accurate assessment. In order to buy anything in the department you need a “requirement.” Imagine if Steve Jobs needed to have a requirement for the iPhone. If you remember, Steve Ballmer laughed at the iPhone. Who needs that he said. However, this doesn’t just apply to acquisition folks. This mindset is pervasive in the military. I experienced this firsthand as a military member. In the late 90s, I was developing web based applications that allowed us to track training in the bomb squadron with the click of a button. I ran the servers and developed the code. Over time the ability to do that went away as we centralized control for security. Now it’s almost impossible to get applications approved to run on DODIN. This makes adopting innovation a centralized function. The DoD needs the opportunity to innovate at the edge with secure and resilient infrastructure that supports new use cases that can be procured the way organizations procure services in the private sector.