April 13, 2020

Dramatic Disruptions – Changing the Way Federal Government Uses IT and Building an Adaptable Workforce Today, for Tomorrow.

“When people within businesses are constantly having to prove the business model works, they tend to be a little bit tougher and have thicker skin; don’t back down from technology or process challenges, and; are adaptable to major disruptions — since the entire business model is based on disruption of the status quo. So, we believe that we are well-positioned to continue to adapt, and thrive, in these challenging times based on the 1901 cultural predisposition to toughness and resiliency.  ”  

Sonu Singh, CEO

COVID-19, a humanitarian and societal crisis, has resulted in a dramatic disruption that will lead to technology transformation that will change the way the federal government uses information technology (IT) to support their mission. Driving these changes is the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) which is the intersection of several trends: Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, automation technologies, and high-speed connectivity or networking. As a result of these factors, employees will be able to work efficiently and securely from remote locations using collaboration software platforms.

Federal government agencies’ journey to the cloud will accelerate as they migrate to cloud-based infrastructure and platforms that are resilient and can scale to support mission needs.  The use of remote IT operations or “managed service” delivery models driven by technology and process automation will alleviate the federal government’s need to have their staff at the government locations.  These trends will pave the way to a more resilient government capable of supporting mission systems 24×7 from any location.  To support these transformational changes, companies must build a workforce for tomorrow to migrate government customers from legacy solutions to secure, cloud-based solutions while providing around the clock managed services to monitor, manage, and optimize mission-critical solutions.

1901 Group is purpose-built to provide the transition from legacy infrastructures to cloud-based solutions through a secure Enterprise IT Operations Center that provides 24×7 security, management, and mission system optimization. Our delivery model insulates us from factors that would otherwise inhibit the ability to provide seamless, effective, and efficient support in times of crisis. Our thought leaders provide their insight on the challenges our government faces and our commitment levels.

Sonu Singh, CEO
Resiliency in operations includes several interrelated components that all work together. One is IT architecture and how it’s designed to operate securely in highly distributed work from home environments. Another includes repeatable processes and governance that allows employees to seamlessly shift to a work from home environment without impacting customer operational support and SLAs. However, in my mind, perhaps the most important characteristic of resiliency is cultural – i.e. how do people react to situations that are different and require change from the status quo. At 1901 Group, our entire business has been about challenging the status quo – from the business model, to the location, to how we price our services, and whom we hire. When people within businesses are constantly having to prove the business model works, they tend to be a little bit tougher and have thicker skin; don’t back down from technology or process challenges, and; are adaptable to major disruptions — since the entire business model is based on disruption of the status quo. So, we believe that we are well-positioned to continue to adapt, and thrive, in these challenging times based on the 1901 cultural predisposition to toughness and resiliency.

George Batsakis, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis highlights the need for public sector customers to make an even more accelerated migration to the cloud, and adoption of outcome-based, managed services. The transition to the cloud, and platform delivered managed services affords governments and users a more resilient, secure, and cost-effective capability along with access to modern and accessible technology solutions including AI, ML, and RPA along with other data science tools and capabilities. But despite COVID-19 and seemingly daily new cyber threats, advancements in technology continue to accelerate. The government can take advantage of those technologies and provide continually improved services to their agencies and users by adopting proven, cost-effective and increasingly automated managed services for their hybrid IT infrastructure. That step will improve services, mitigate workforce challenges, and free up government resources to focus attention on the “data layer” needed to inform decisions and improve government services. The current crisis has proven the 1901 Group’s value.  And we’re ready to partner with customers to begin their journey to a more secure, automated and efficient future.

Paul Wilkinson, EVP Business Development
The recent Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act stimulus package includes billions of dollars of aid for technological areas such as telehealth, telework, the Technology Modernization Fund and cybersecurity. This funding will help medical responses as well as technology transformation to enable on-demand, secure and resilient IT infrastructure, operations and systems needed to support our nation’s critical functions.  As a FedRAMP authorized managed service provider (MSP), 1901 Group provides remote IT operations for mission systems located in government data centers and the cloud.  We invested in resilient security and remote operations capabilities that have allowed us to operate at 100% with no service interruptions or performance degradation.  We look forward to working with our customers to further deliver managed services delivered securely using cloud solutions to support IT transformation.

James Christopher, EVP Operations and Engineering
Most public sector organizations are struggling with the same challenges concerning information technology (IT) modernization and sustainment. Many are executing initiatives that include the consolidation and migration of IT infrastructure to the cloud, as well as exploring alternative support models for sustainment based on advances in technology and services, as well as budget pressures. One challenge is that experienced IT resources are exceedingly difficult to find, while market pressure is resulting in substantial increases in cost for those resources that are available. 1901 Group’s approach to this challenge centers around investments and focus on talent creation and workforce development within our centralized Enterprise IT Operations Centers (EITOC), which are located in talent-rich rural markets that have a high quality of living and are insulated from the labor crunch present within most metropolitan markets.  Our EITOC employees are equipped and possess the ability to securely telework with the same level of efficiency and performance as they would within an EITOC or on a customer site. Our FedRAMP authorized infrastructure was designed to support our employees working in this manner and is extensible to provide support for future EITOC facilities and employees providing support via telework. Given the challenges highlighted by the COVID-19 crisis, the ability to provide immediate, agile and 100% effective operational support to our customers in times of crisis is essential – regardless of work location.  1901 Group was established over 10 years ago to address a void in the market and think about solving IT problems using a different approach, and is purpose-built to address the staffing, support and scale challenges that are present within many customer environments today.

Brendan Walsh, SVP Partner Relations
During this time of global crisis, we are fortunate and proud to have such dedicated employees, committed customers, and a resilient business model that allows us to continue providing cloud migration, cyber, and IT modernization services supporting our U.S. Federal Government customers. Our business model is based on remote IT operations, as a foundation for monitoring, managing, and optimizing hybrid (onsite and cloud) IT environments, which is now more critical than ever. I am also proud of the work our partners like AWS, ServiceNow, and NetApp are doing to keep staff working and essential IT infrastructure and IT applications operating. 1901 Group is committed to our employees, our technology partners, our customers, and our community. We are all in this together.

Relevant Links:

Share

Please share this post!