William McCormick
Executive Mosaic is honored to present Dana Barnes, senior vice president of the public sector with Palo Alto Networks, as a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient for driving digital transformation and for his thought leadership across the technology and government contracting (GovCon) sectors.
Visit Wash100.com to cast a vote for Dana Barnes as the most significant executive of consequence to the GovCon sector. Cast your TEN votes TODAY to advocate your favorite leaders in the federal and government sectors. The elite leader with the most votes by April 30th will be recognized by the GovCon community as the industry’s most influential member.
This marks Barnes’ first Wash100 Award. In Sept. 2020, Barnes was appointed as the senior vice president of U.S. public sector at Palo Alto Networks. His teams deliver mission critical cybersecurity solutions.
Previously, he served as a vice president for state and local government at Microsoft, where he led his team and Microsoft partners to deliver technology solutions that solved problems, produced results, enabled digital transformation and enhanced state services.
In an interview regarding his transition from Microsoft to Palo Alto Networks, Barnes noted that coaching youth ice hockey prepared him for his leadership transition, coaching youth sports taught me that I do not know it all, he said, When I came to Palo Alto Networks, I knew my job was to listen, learn, and create an environment that is conducive for my teammates to succeed.
Barnes’ initiatives and strong leadership have driven state governments to modernize, gain efficiencies and achieve more for all constituents. With Palo Alto Networks, Barnes has spearheaded notable digital priorities.
In Jan. 2021, Palo Alto Networks announced that Prisma Cloud, Cortex XDR and Cortex Data Lake have been added to Palo Alto Networks Government Cloud Services, which has achieved Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Moderate Authorization. Its sponsoring agency is the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
“As the SolarStorm attack reminds us yet again of the importance of modernizing cybersecurity, we’re thrilled to add three innovative security products to the FedRAMP Authorized Palo Alto Networks Government Cloud Services to help customers remain protected against evolving threats,” said Barnes.
With the latest FedRAMP authorization, Palo Alto Networks will help agencies secure their networks, clouds and endpoints. Palo Alto Networks cloud-delivered services work together to protect users and applications.
FedRAMP provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization and continuous monitoring for U.S. government agencies as they increasingly embrace the cloud and use cloud-based products and services.
“As hundreds of U.S. government and defense agencies trust Palo Alto Networks to safeguard their operations, data and missions, we’re dedicated to delivering the solutions to meet their needs,” he added.
Earlier in 2020, Leidos selected Palo Alto Networks as one of four new companies to join the Leidos Alliance Partner Network (LAPN). Palo Alto Networks will drive innovation, enhance program performance and build efficiency for suppliers.
“We are excited to welcome Dataiku, HP, Palo Alto Networks, and Splunk to our growing team. Their next-generation innovations, coupled with our intimate understanding of the customers’ needs, will only accelerate the adoption of important new technologies,” said Bob Gemmill, Leidos’ chief procurement officer.
Under the agreement, Palo Alto Networks will work in a mutually beneficial and cooperative environment to enhance their ability to compete and perform in government and commercial markets.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Dana Barnes and Palo Alto Networks for his first Wash100 Award. Barnes’ strong leadership across the technology industry, as well as support for advanced digital initiatives, has cemented his position in the GovCon sector, and will continue to influence the marketplace throughout the new year.
About Wash100
This year represents the eighth annual Wash100 award selection. The Wash100 is the premier group of private and public sector leaders selected by Executive Mosaic’s organizational and editorial leadership as the most influential leaders in the GovCon sector.
These leaders demonstrate skills in leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement, and vision. Visitors to Wash100.com can sign in and vote for the executives they believe will have the greatest impact on government contracting in the coming year.
The media team at Executive Mosaic writes individualized articles for each recipient of the Wash100 award, providing a write up on the executive centered around their career history and highlights.
