ExecutiveBiz recently asked government contracting leaders their predictions in their industries for 2008. Here are their responses:

“Flawless execution and systems integration and engineering will define the hallmarks for 2008 in our marketplace. The need for effective partnership with our government customer will be of paramount importance. An increased emphasis on stability in requirements and funding will be complemented by the need for value-driven solutions!”

– Deb Alderson, President of System and Network Solutions Group, SAIC

“The close of 2007 saw an improvement in award activity that gives the industry confidence for a robust 2008. We continue to believe shifting government priorities caused by an increased focused on the intelligence community combined with BRAC and the return of some forces from Iraq will create higher funding opportunities for federal civilian agencies, department of defense, and the intelligence community.”

– Brad Antle, President & CEO of SI International

“Agencies will place more emphasis on exploiting HSPD-12 identity management card benefits for applications like secure physical and logical access, collaboration, productivity and worker mobility. Also, outdated ERP installations will drive demand for applications modernization initiatives as requirements for business agility, information sharing, and productivity become more pressing across government.”

– Dennis Stolkey, Vice president and general manager of the U.S. government unit, EDS

“In 2008, I expect government spending in IT hardware, software and services to remain relatively flat compared with 2007. I predict that contracting vehicles such as the GSA schedules will remain the primary way to procure commodity-like technology products and services.”

– Peter Ostrow, President and CEO of Technical Communities

“The trend toward the use of government-wide acquisition and ID/IQ contracts will continue. Since there is a shortage of the number of contracting officers within federal agencies, these contracts help streamline the competitive process and can help agencies get work initiated more quickly.”

– Stacy Mendler, Chief Operating Officer of Alion Science

“In 2008, government will be gripped by mandate-mania, as agencies race to meet looming deadlines to become COOP-ready and IPv6-enabled. Of course, meeting the mandates is important, but we should also be mindful they will help prepare the country to compete globally and ensure government continuity in case of a disruptive event.”

– Haywood Talcove, vice president, Public Sector Americas, Juniper Networks

“Dollars will become stretched as agencies hold off on the results of the election, and as our military presence in Iraq continues. Tier 1 and 2 providers will execute on strategies to secure small business dollars through means other than M&A. M&A deal flow will remain soft due to the SBA recertification rule that took effect last summer.”

– Raymond Roberts, CEO of Citizant

“With National elections coming up and the end of an administration, we believe agencies will stay the course with programs currently underway. New contracts will likely be limited to those with bipartisan support, with the remainder sliding to the right. We also expect qualified talent to remain a scarce resource both for government agencies and the contractors who support them.”

– Jim O’Neill is the president of Northrop Grumman’s Information Technology sector

“2008 will be another year of gridlock for contractors…

- Presidential election year politics in full display
- Legislative “one-upmanship” the order of the day
- Costs of the war will continue its ripple effect across the entire budget
- Reality of re-certification regulation will increase the chasm between small and large companies.”

– Bill Hoover, CEO of American Systems

“Homeland security, infrastructure, health, and ageing issues constitute the top priorities for our nation in the years ahead. We will need to find new and innovative ways to link the public, private, and civil society sectors, as a Megacommunity, to address the challenges that we collectively face together.”

– Mark Gerencser, Managing Director of Global Government Business, Booz Allen Hamilton

Alion Science and Technology Corporation announced this week that they have acquired virtually all the assets of LogConGroup, Inc., a firm providing logistics and identification technologies as well as program management. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.   

Based in McLean, Virginia, Alion provides a wide range of technology solutions to both the government and private sector, including IT, engineering, and naval architecture. An employee-owned company, Alion was formed in 2002 when employees of ITT Research Institute purchased ITT’s assets. Alion now ranks among the top 100 largest federal government contractors, and their revenue for 2006 totaled $508.6 million. Almost 75% of Alion’s 3,500 employees hold security clearances—a good indication of Alion’s focus on classified government projects.

Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, LogConGroup specializes in automatic identification technology and logistics inventory tracking systems for the Defense Department and private industry. As specialists in munitions management, LogConGroup has contracts supporting the US Navy and US Army, and they’ve created many systems for tracking and automatically identifying inventory. These systems include RFID (radio frequency identification), MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) sensors, bar codes, smart cards, touch memory buttons, handheld readers, and scanners.

Rick Meidenbauer, Alion Spectrum Engineering Group Manager, stated that the acquisition would allow Alion to increase their capabilities and presence in the high-value asset identification and tracking market. He added, “LogConGroup’s capabilities to track Class V munitions and other high-value military and commercial assets mesh well with ours, so we can support and help expand their current work with the resources of a much larger technology innovator.”

The founder of LogConGroup, Paul J. Ricciuti, echoed Meidenbauer’s words, saying, “We are actively engaged in providing logistics transformation and emerging logistics technologies for all Joint and Army Depots. As part of Alion, we can extend our service capabilities to existing and new Alion customers. Culturally, we believe it’s a great fit, and we expect to make the transition quickly.” 

Just last year Alion snapped up assets of Anteon International in what Washington Technology rated the second largest mergers and acquisitions deal of 2006. How large, you ask? Oh, the tidy little sum of $225 million. (How many double mochas would that buy? Enough to caffeinate you to Mars and back.) An aggressively growing company, Alion continues to add to its fold. Keep your eyes peeled for whatever Alion pulls out of the bag next—or should I say, puts in.