Mac Curtis and Perspecta – There’s a New Government Partner in Town

Mac Curtis wants government leaders to know there is a new Tier One partner ready to help them solve their most complex information-related and national security challenges.

Curtis is President and CEO at Perspecta, the new company formed by the merger of the U.S. Public Sector business of DXC Technology, Vencore Holding Company and KeyPoint Government Solutions. Curtis brings more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in federal contracting to the role, having served as CEO of Pearson Government Solutions, Vangent and Vencore. He knows how to combine the proven expertise of the merged organizations into an even more powerful partner for mission enablement.

Presenting at a recent conference, Curtis explained that the government needs more from its contractors than it is typically getting today. The age of the “one-trick pony” contractor has passed. To successfully navigate the IT transformation facing government, agencies need a partner who can deliver three things:

• A strong innovation engine, demonstrated by an extensive IP portfolio;
• A track record of proven, end-to-end service offerings and solutions;
• A broad partner network to put at the disposal of the government customer.

“The government needs to respond to seismic trends today – infrastructure modernization and the accelerating adoption of digital to support the mandate for IT-driven mission enablement,” said Curtis. “And where there are big challenges there also are big opportunities. Perspecta brings to bear a rich pedigree, cutting-edge innovation and the best talent in the industry, all solely focused on the public sector.”

The federal government is doing its part to put additional budget towards this needed IT transformation. The government-wide IT spend is estimated to be more than $80 billion. The defense budget has been increased by $74 billion and the intelligence budget by $5 billion, with much of that going toward IT. It’s imperative that contracting partners earn these dollars by effectively addressing the government’s top IT priorities. These include the migration to cloud computing, an increased focus on cybersecurity and the efficient application of big data analytics.

Perspecta is already hard at work on these government challenges. Personnel and systems that are now Perspecta processed more than 1 billion Medicare claims last year, protected the U.S. Navy from 2.5 billion intrusions attempts, represent the number one resource for cloud migration in the intelligence field, and conducted more than 200,000 background investigations.

“We have relationships going back 30 and 40 years with government customers,” says Curtis. “Not that we ever rest on our laurels. The reason we have such relationships is because we’re constantly investing in research and innovation. Perspecta has over 170 PhDs working in research and they have produced more than 260 patents, issued, licensed and pending. We work closely with academic partners such as Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, George Washington University and MIT to drive technology forward, not simply keep up with it.”

Government customers deserve a partner solely focused on the public sector and its unique priorities. With the combination of these three component companies, Perspecta creates a public sector pure-play organization, one that will never divert resources or talent toward private-sector clients. Its 14,000 employees are 100 percent focused on the mission. Currently, roughly 55 percent are dedicated to enterprise IT support, 25 percent to mission systems engineering and integration, and 20 percent to identity authentication services.

Curtis has been in this position before, albeit without so many resources to bring to bear. The drive to serve was inculcated early, via a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Virginia Military Institute. His IT leadership has been repeatedly recognized by the federal IT media. He’s been a Federal 100 winner, a GovCon Wash100 and was named the executive leader of the year by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce in 2016.

“Federal IT systems are undertaking a fundamental transition to next-generation technology. In a sense, they are leaping forward 10-15 years to catch up to the service capabilities proven out by the commercial technology giants,” Curtis said. “Citizen expectations for digital services have never been higher, and national security threats have never been more pressing. Agencies need the right partner to get this transition done right, on time and on budget.”

The name is new, and the technology is always evolving. But the mission remains the same, and there is now a better contractor partner for agencies to rely on for their toughest IT challenges. 

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