CSC Forms New Division to Meet Government Security and Intelligence Needs

Building upon more than 20 years of experience in government IT, intelligence, and security, CSC has created an Enforcement, Security, and Intelligence (ESI) division to meet the growing needs of U.S. law enforcement, public safety and security and intelligence agencies.

The division will be closely aligned with the nascent U.S. Department of Homeland Security and will support a wide range of agencies, including the INS, FBI and several U.S. intelligence organizations.

"We’ve been in this game a long, long time," says Tim Sheahan, the division’s president. "We’ve been supporting the intelligence community in excess of 20 years. This was a natural extension." CSC’s first government contract came in 1961 with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and intelligence community-related work commenced some 25 years ago.

Plans for the new division were on the drawing board long before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "9/11 just created the emergency - that we needed to do this a little quicker than we would have naturally done it," says Sheahan. "Over the last year, it has become clearer that companies with long-term relationships across all aspects of the federal government are best positioned to support homeland security efforts. CSC certainly qualifies there."

Creation process allows input from clients

Starting last year, CSC federal sector president Paul Cofoni and his staff performed a rigorous analysis of CSC’s strengths and the anticipated needs of the marketplace. The creation of the ESI division was the result of a deliberate process that involved forming a commission to study government IT security needs and soliciting input from CSC’s leading customers.

Sheahan says more than 60 clients were interviewed. "We didn’t do this by ourselves. We went ahead and talked to our clients about how it should be put together. We asked them what they felt were the key drivers that we need to take care of in their future and what kind of things we could pay attention to differently. They said, ’We have to have a trusted partnership with a one-stop shop. We don’t have time to go to seven different contractors to get a solution.’"

Part of CSC’s federal sector, the ESI division consists of several units, including Homeland Security, which is led by vice president Ben Gianni. CSC vice president Bob Kennedy heads National Security and Foreign Affairs, and vice president Jose Jimenez leads the Intelligence and Law Enforcement unit. Account executive Paul Barker leads the Eagle Alliance, a joint venture of CSC and Northrop Grumman Corp., solely dedicated to supporting the intelligence community.

In addition to supporting law enforcement and intelligence-related entities, the ESI division is geared up to support the various organizations that are slated to become part of the proposed Department of Homeland Security.

Taming tangled systems

The U.S. federal government is by far the largest single user of information technology. President Bush has proposed spending $52 billion on IT in the 2003 fiscal year which started Oct. 1, a 15 percent increase over 2002.

In addition, overall government spending on external information technology in the U.S. will reach $42 billion by 2006, according to a recent study by research firm IDC. The report said that the government faces a shortage of qualified IT professionals, which will present increased opportunities for work outsourced to external IT vendors. The study also states, "IT stands to play a critical role in helping all levels of government agencies address some of the challenges they face."

One of the key challenges is the sharing of information. A congressional investigation looking into the events leading up to Sept. 11 reported that critical intelligence information wasn’t shared between government agencies prior to the attacks.

Thus, data integration is crucial to a unified Department of Homeland Security. As the agency takes shape, Sheahan thinks it "will have the largest impact on our government organization since the creation of the Department of Defense." In creating the new department, the government is looking to simplify and integrate a wide range of disparate IT systems, which plays into the hands of services companies that have a strong federal track record and experience with large integration projects.

Addressing the topic of data integration, Sheahan says, "In that, there is a lot of chaos. How do you draw 22 agencies and departments together? Government agencies need to do a better job of sharing and analyzing information. They must share information and eliminate stovepipes. To splice the databases together in a way that respects the credentialing and other legal and regulatory obstacles is always a challenge."

Sheahan adds, "We’re now in a position to deliver end-to-end solutions without any organizational barriers in our way. And we have the subject matter experts who can speak and execute end-to-end."

"CSC is uniquely qualified to deliver the best solution to its clients," Sheahan says. "We have always prided ourselves on our flexibility, vendor neutrality and willingness to listen. Those are things that uniquely position us to consider a wide array of tools in putting together the best solution to accomplish entirely new objectives."

Sheahan says the bundling of services and solutions related to intelligence, law enforcement, public safety, and security tells a great story to CSC clients. "We’ve moved out very aggressively in this space. We have leapfrogged our competitors with the establishment of this division. When you talk to the analysts, they like it. I’ve not heard anybody say that anybody else has done this the way we’ve done it."

Building client trust through experience

Sheahan has an extensive background in the intelligence and security business. In his 15 years at CSC, he has served in a number of capacities, including lead executive for Eagle Alliance. Prior to joining CSC, Sheahan spent more than 20 years in various management and IT positions and he also has intelligence collection experience in the field.

He says his background "allows me to talk the talk with clients. They know I’ve walked the walk and it creates a trust and an ability to recognize where they are coming from."

Sheahan says he is enjoying his new role as president of ESI. "I’m excited about being able to lead a division that has such robust capabilities, from desktop support to forensics, from biometrics to high-end software development, to a staff of security engineers better than any."

One of the biggest challenges facing Sheahan these days may come as a surprise to some. While a shaky global economy has produced a tough business climate and led to workforce reductions throughout the tech industry, Sheahan’s ESI division is bucking the trend - they are actively recruiting qualified IT professionals.

Sheahan says there are "a large number of good job openings" for top-notch IT people in the ESI division, especially in areas such as information security and network and system administration.

While the precise makeup of the Department of Homeland Security continues to get ironed out, Sheahan sums up the situation: "As the dust settles, one thing is becoming clear - our clients are turning to CSC as a world-class systems integrator and prime contractor to help them weed through the plethora of security technologies available and find the best solution."

Related Information:

Contact Us and Let Our Experience Help You Produce Results.

Learn more about CSC’s Government and Homeland Security services and offerings.

Read the interview Ben Gianni Discusses Homeland Security.

Prospective IT professionals can learn about current job openings at the Eagle Alliance Web site and the CSC CareerSource Web site; Eagle Alliance employment referrals may be submitted by e-mail to eareferrals@eagle-alliance.com.