On Jan. 27, Government Contracting Weekly, a television program devoted to federal contracting, aired a segment featuring Susan Zeleniak, senior vice president of public sector markets for Verizon Enterprise Solutions.
The central theme of the far-ranging interview focused on the future of federal procurement in the rapidly evolving world of information technology.
During the interview, Zeleniak said that, "Government is challenged by the same things challenging any big enterprise, the technology is changing quickly … budgets are going down, there's less capital to invest."
With regard to mobility, she noted that, "Mobility is driving everything and secure mobility is going to be the key. We [Verizon] really see the world in three parts: mobility, cloud and security and they all go together and so that's where our focus is."
On the cloud-computing front, she stressed that, "While cloud has been out there a couple of years, we're now sort of just starting to see the procurements for cloud come about because budget cycles have caught up to the technology."
Susan also addressed the various challenges faced by federal IT and procurement officials, such as an aging workforce, the consumerization of IT, budget constraints and end user expectations for high levels of service. Zeleniak offered perspectives on the importance of working with partners, and the role of collaboration and consulting during the procurement process. She concludes the segment by offering her advice on how to win in the federal marketplace, stressing the importance of clearly stating customer benefits.
Taking the 15 minutes to view the segment is definitely time well spent, particularly for those involved in federal procurement, whether for the public or private sector, as well as those with careers in related fields.
Government Contracting Weekly airs every Sunday on WUSA-9, the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC.
Learn more about Verizon and its public sector business, including how to purchase advanced cloud, mobility and security solutions, by visiting the Verizon Public Sector website.
