Military and Industry Officials Hope FCSA Contract Improves Communications
By Sam Silverstein | March 17, 2010
by Sam Silverstein
Better dialogue between military satellite communications users and the private sector is essential if the satellite industry is going to continue meeting the military’s highly complex and evolving requirements,” said Robert “Tip” Osterthaler, president and CEO of Americom Government Services. “If we can find a way for industry to be more fully involved with those conversations, I think that’s a game changer.”
Another pressing issue involves a disconnect between the military’s practice of buying satellite capacity through short-term contracts and the satellite industry’s need to identify long-term revenue streams, Osterthaler said. “We need to find innovative ways to connect the differing business models between the government and commercial [companies],” he said, adding he is “encouraged by the conversations we’re beginning to have with the government.”
If military satellite users are able—and willing—to provide more information to commercial providers, those companies would be able to better anticipate the military’s needs and plan investments in new satellites and other equipment, officials said during the panel session. Although the military purchases large amounts of satellite bandwidth and related services from the private sector, it relies on short-term contracts and typically does not give suppliers information that would allow them to tailor service to the military’s needs.
“If you don’t understand what the customer’s requirements are, you can’t support them,” said Michael Wheeler, CEO of Segovia, another satellite systems integrator. “The transition to a new contract is a great opportunity for us to be more engaged with the customer and bring more innovative solutions through the life of the contract.”
A military official agreed that the FCSA holds the promise of improving the ability to work with the private sector. “How we spend money needs to change,” said Daniel Gager, deputy FCSA program manager at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). Military users need to lease commercial satellite capacity for longer periods and larger quantities, and they need to manage that capacity at a higher level, he said.
Such a change would require a cultural change, particularly among field commanders accustomed to the idea that they own the capacity they use, Gager said. “It can be done, and we’re moving towards that right now. “Buying commercial satcom on a month-to-month basis isn’t working for the U.S. government.”
A key feature of the FCSA is that it will allow the government to add companies to the list of suppliers and permit those companies to update the capabilities they provide throughout the life of the contract, said Kevin Gallo, satellite communications services program manager for the U.S. General Services Administration. Gallo added that his agency’s involvement in administering the program would not add an additional layer of bureaucracy to the military’s process for procuring satellite capacity.
Cavossa said he expects the military to remain wary about sharing information with the satellite industry, even if the relationship between government and private sector officials does open up. “The perfect scenario is where the customer says, ‘I need this in five years,’ and, ‘If you build it, we will come,’” he said. “Are we going to get there? I don’t think so … [The government] will never be able to share that level of detail and wait.”
Asked how suppliers will be able to differentiate themselves as the FCSA replaces the legacy satellite contracts and more suppliers can potentially begin selling services to the military, Cavossa said customer service will be critical. CapRock will be able to turn to its past performance as evidence of its capabilities for a while, but over the longer term, he expects the firm to rely on the way it handles its relationships with military users as its biggest selling point.
U.S. military officials responsible for procuring commercial satellite communications services and the companies that serve those needs are abuzz over a new contracting mechanism they hope will streamline the federal government’s relationship with private industry.
The Future Comsatcom Services Acquisition (FCSA) program could enable the satellite industry to better meet the military’s needs by encouraging better information-sharing, said David Cavossa, vice president of operations for CapRock Government Solutions, a systems integrator that acquires satellite capacity and resells it to the government coupled with ground-systems and other support services. Cavossa spoke Tuesday during a SATELLITE 2010 panel discussion organized by the Satellite Industry Association. FCSA replaces the expiring Defense Satellite Transmission Service-Global, Satcom 2 and Inmarsat contracts.
Better dialogue between military satellite communications users and the private sector is essential if the satellite industry is going to continue meeting the military’s highly complex and evolving requirements,” said Robert “Tip” Osterthaler, president and CEO of Americom Government Services. “If we can find a way for industry to be more fully involved with those conversations, I think that’s a game changer.”
Another pressing issue involves a disconnect between the military’s practice of buying satellite capacity through short-term contracts and the satellite industry’s need to identify long-term revenue streams, Osterthaler said. “We need to find innovative ways to connect the differing business models between the government and commercial [companies],” he said, adding he is “encouraged by the conversations we’re beginning to have with the government.”
If military satellite users are able—and willing—to provide more information to commercial providers, those companies would be able to better anticipate the military’s needs and plan investments in new satellites and other equipment, officials said during the panel session. Although the military purchases large amounts of satellite bandwidth and related services from the private sector, it relies on short-term contracts and typically does not give suppliers information that would allow them to tailor service to the military’s needs.
“If you don’t understand what the customer’s requirements are, you can’t support them,” said Michael Wheeler, CEO of Segovia, another satellite systems integrator. “The transition to a new contract is a great opportunity for us to be more engaged with the customer and bring more innovative solutions through the life of the contract.”
A military official agreed that the FCSA holds the promise of improving the ability to work with the private sector. “How we spend money needs to change,” said Daniel Gager, deputy FCSA program manager at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). Military users need to lease commercial satellite capacity for longer periods and larger quantities, and they need to manage that capacity at a higher level, he said.
Such a change would require a cultural change, particularly among field commanders accustomed to the idea that they own the capacity they use, Gager said. “It can be done, and we’re moving towards that right now. “Buying commercial satcom on a month-to-month basis isn’t working for the U.S. government.”
A key feature of the FCSA is that it will allow the government to add companies to the list of suppliers and permit those companies to update the capabilities they provide throughout the life of the contract, said Kevin Gallo, satellite communications services program manager for the U.S. General Services Administration. Gallo added that his agency’s involvement in administering the program would not add an additional layer of bureaucracy to the military’s process for procuring satellite capacity.
Cavossa said he expects the military to remain wary about sharing information with the satellite industry, even if the relationship between government and private sector officials does open up. “The perfect scenario is where the customer says, ‘I need this in five years,’ and, ‘If you build it, we will come,’” he said. “Are we going to get there? I don’t think so … [The government] will never be able to share that level of detail and wait.”
Asked how suppliers will be able to differentiate themselves as the FCSA replaces the legacy satellite contracts and more suppliers can potentially begin selling services to the military, Cavossa said customer service will be critical. CapRock will be able to turn to its past performance as evidence of its capabilities for a while, but over the longer term, he expects the firm to rely on the way it handles its relationships with military users as its biggest selling point.