CSC replaces Unisys in a half-billion-dollar TSA account

of transitioning from one vendor to another.

Additionally, the company was able to communicate the resources available to meet these planned goals and the organization’s past successes with civilian and military agencies such as the Army and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Persistence and patience
Schambach gets asked all of the time by VARs, consultants, and other channel service providers about the secrets to breaking into big government contracts.

“Particularly for new companies trying to break into government work — and I think even for successful, long-term companies who have always worked in the commercial sector — working in the government arena is a different kind of animal,” he says.

He explains that many channel providers go into government bidding with their eyes closed, not realizing the persistence and patience necessary to land government work.

“They don’t always appreciate what the government process is like and that the sales cycle time tends to be a lot longer on the government side,” he says. “There are drivers that push major acquisitions to the right on a timeline, things get delayed and businesses trying to break into government work are frustrated along the way.”

Winning partnerships
One of the major requirements of the TSA for its ITIP contract agreement and many other agency agreements like it is that the primary solution provider offer ample opportunities for small businesses to subcontract.

According to Schambach, CSC has long had a tradition of leveraging the expertise of smaller solution providers to give customers the most holistic offerings possible. “They bring things to the game that maybe could fill gaps for us,” Schambach says.

In addition, the company also partners with all of the larger vendors within the IT landscape that lend a solution provider credibility.
A foot in the door
Schambach, by the way, is a former CIO for the TSA. When Channel Insider spoke to him about the link, he played it down, explaining that many other large players going after this bid also had some all-star former bureaucrats within their ranks.

“That gives me an individual advantage and to some degree CSC, but all of the major companies are known for what we call ‘strategic hiring,’ trying to find people who have the insight into what the agency is really looking for,” Schambach says. “TSA went through this competitive process, and they rated us on our technical and management approach, our past performance qualifications, our small business plan to incorporate small businesses and our costs.”

“Yes,” Chickowski concludes, “but it certainly didn’t hurt to have that extra foot in the door-not to mention a clear vision of what the building looks like once inside the threshold.”