Rebrandings are a constant in the government market and the company now known as Everfox is the newest example of that after its acquisition by one of the world's largest investment firms.

The cybersecurity business formerly known as Forcepoint Federal, and before that as Websense, now exclusively focuses on global government and critical infrastructure clients as a portfolio company of TPG. 

In this episode, Everfox's chief executive Sean Berg goes over some of the 700-employee company's investment priorities and the overall cyber landscape's current state of play.

Everfox has two decades of history behind it and to say that cyber has changed over that timeframe would be an understatement, but the emergence of nation-state actors is one of the trends Berg explains to our Ross Wilkers.

Also on their agenda: the new name itself of course, commonalities between Everfox's government and critical infrastructure customers, how and where the company plans to grow its talent base.

LMI was chartered during the Kennedy administration in 1961 as a provider of logistics management services and research to the federal government, work that remains core to the firm's vision and strategy.

That has not changed for LMI, but its change in 2022 from being a nonprofit to for-profit appears significant on the surface. In this episode, LMI's chief executive Doug Wagoner explains the rationale for making that shift and who the investors in the company are.

Of course, the conversation between Wagoner and our Ross Wilkers works its way toward what LMI plans to do with its private capital backing. 

LMI now has more resources for acquisitions and support for its continued push to lead in logistics, an area that has become paramount for federal agencies in light of all that has happened to supply chains during the past three years.

The presence of private equity firms continues to grow in the government market because as Zach Hester says in this conversation with Editor Nick Wakeman: “It just works." Plain and simple.

Most of the largest companies in the market have used acquisitions as a catalyst for organic growth. But according to Hester, the director of merger and acquisition strategy and deal generation at Bluestone Investment Partners, there are plenty of opportunities for the small and midsized players to be active in M&A as well.

Hester says the critical element a mission focus and using that to drive your acquisition choices. Buyers can add capabilities, talent and broaden your depth. It can send a signal to customers that you can take on larger opportunities.

The volume of deals may ebb and flow from year to year, but there is little doubt that M&A has become a powerful force.

SMX can trace its history back to 1995 and that timeline includes the name Smartronix, a marker represented in the current name that seeks to balance recognizing history with continuous evolution.

Digital transformation remains the core focal point of the new SMX's strategy and a main topic of this episode featuring chief executive Peter LaMontagne, who joined in 2020 as OceanSound Partners acquired the business.

LaMontagne also shared with our Ross Wilkers his view on what private equity investors like OceanSound do for the government market's middle tier and how SMX defines digital transformation for its strategy.

As LaMontagne sees things, cloud computing is absolutely part of that but far from exclusive to it. The conversation closes with LaMontagne's perspectives on the Pentagon's National Defense Industrial Strategy and what companies should do to make it a success.

Multiple-award contract vehicles are where a majority of the government's buying activity seems to take place these days, but the "Rule of Two" that tells agencies how to work with small businesses did not apply there.

The White House has started to work on changing that through a Jan. 31 memo that tells agencies to use that golden rule of government contracting for multiple-award vehicles and their task order business.

What that means for small businesses is the focal point of this episode featuring Stephen Bacon, government contracts attorney at the law firm Rogers Joseph O'Donnell.

Bacon tells our Ross Wilkers all about what the memo does and doesn't do, plus what comes next for the directive to become final and how small businesses can use it as an informational tool for their customers.

These links below have more on the Rule of Two expansion memo: 

Stephen Bacon on LinkedIn: OFPP Memo Small Business Participation on MACs

GovCon's 'rule of two' is about to widen in scope

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification regulation may not be final for at least another year, but the Defense Department has been running a voluntary program for companies to go through a third-party assessment.

That test looks at how compliant companies are with the standards at the heart of CMMC, which will formalize how contractors should protect controlled unclassified information in their systems.

This episode features Editor Nick Wakeman's conversation with Derek Kernus, director of cybersecurity operations at professional services firm DTS, who explains how his company became compliant with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's 800-171 standard that is the basis for CMMC.

Kernus led DTS and one of its clients, IVA’AL, through DOD’s Joint Surveillance Voluntary Assessment program that measures their processes against the NIST standard.

DTS and IVA'AL got perfect scores and that will get them an automatic CMMC Level 2 certification when the rule goes into effect, probably in early 2025.

Kernus shares what they went through, what they learned and what comes next.

DMI was born as a mobility solutions provider in 2002 and that remains a core component of its approach to digital transformation work with federal agencies.

But another much faster-moving sector of the economy looms large in DMI's strategy for public sector. In this episode, DMI's chief executive Rocky Thurston explains to our Ross Wilkers what the auto industry teaches the company about taking modern technology into federal environments.

Think connectivity and automation in particular when listening to Thurston describe how DMI draws lessons learned from the auto industry. DMI's overall strategy and the role of its private equity backer Oceansound Partners are also on the discussion agenda.

The rise of artificial intelligence, heightened demand for improved customer experience and the relentless pace of change are all continuing to drive the market here in 2024.

In this interview with Editor Nick Wakeman, ACT-IAC's CEO David Wennergren describes both the challenges ahead for agencies and contractors, plus the for optimism.

One key piece of advice from Wennergren stands out: There are many serious issues to resolve, but there are no excuses for individuals and companies not to get involved with each other and more importantly their government customers and with each other.

Industry also needs to put more focus on mission outcomes. Look for opportunities to make significant changes.

Getting out the crystal ball to predict future developments is a hazardous exercise, but a first look at topics and conversations happening across the government contracting ecosystem can help in preparation.

Our first episode of 2024 serves as that initial glimpse into what is important for the government market in this new year with the insights from Stephanie Smith, GovCon industry senior analyst and valuation services director at the global professional services firm RSM.

Smith told our Ross Wilkers that she and her colleagues at RSM are fielding many questions from clients about the evolving interest rate environment, which touches every aspect of the economy and certainly something GovCon has to take note of.

They also go over investment activity among non-traditional financing sources and the business opportunities for contractors in these three buckets: the industrial base's new CMMC cyber standard, the government's push to go green and defense on the global stage.

We live in a world where there are challenges on multiple fronts – the war in Ukraine, China and a continuing terrorist threat. Those challenges drive federal budgets and defense spending, which in turn set the tone for mergers and acquisitions.

This episode has Jean Stack, co-lead of the investment bank Baird's defense and government services practice, join WT Editor Nick Wakeman to discuss how M&A activity can explain priorities and trends across the federal market and some subtle changes she sees taking place.

Her outlook covers what to watch for in venture capital and private equity involvement, as well as the potential for more privately-held companies going public.