With the recent explosion of apps, software solutions, and the Internet of Things (IoT), it’s fairly inevitable that every Silicon Valley start-up, down to those scrappy teenage entrepreneurs writing revolutionary code in their parents’ garages, would want to sell their products and services to the U.S. federal government. The sales potential to Uncle Sam is virtually unlimited — just ask any major defense contractor who has taken advantage of the roughly $800 billion spent annually on defense. However, cracking into the federal space isn’t just about having the best product or service — it’s also about implementing effective cybersecurity protocols.
What It Takes to Sell Cloud-Based Software to the U.S. Government
The threat of hackers and/or hostile foreign governments using malicious code to gain backdoor access into the U.S. government’s IT infrastructure is a tremendous national security risk. Just imagine the implications and liabilities of a software system that provided third-party access to one of America’s critical infrastructures (i.e., power grid, water utilities, transportation systems), and the consequences of a cyber breach. That’s why software companies that want to sell their products to the U.S. government must ensure that they are delivering a product that is free of malicious code, ransomware, or some other “hidden hand” implanted by a hostile foreign intelligence service. As the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and other agencies transition into an era of global cyberwarfare and virtual battlefields, new companies are emerging to fill the Pentagon’s desperate cyber needs. This year alone, U.S. federal agencies will purchase more than $80 billion in private IT solutions, $9 billion of which will go towards cloud-based solutions. But simply having innovative cloud-based software is not enough — it must also be secure.