Matching quickly changing tech needs and capabilities for defense and national security agencies
Before joining the private sector in 2009, I served in British military intelligence, in areas including Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Both during my service and in the years since, the technology needs of Defence and National Security agencies have changed greatly.
When I worked in the field, my knowledge of things such as the capabilities of enemy weapons systems was held in my scribbled notebook and in my head. Today, military agencies operate in a connected, collaborative, and mobile world, where operational awareness depends on the ability to access data anywhere and at any time. Back then, open source intelligence—information gathered from unrestricted resources such as social media—was not ubiquitous and therefore not a priority consideration for information gathering. Today, YouTube and other sites have become effective recruiting tools for terrorist organizations and a valuable source of intelligence for the U.K. and its allies.
Rapid advances in consumer and business IT have the potential to help meet the shifting needs of the intelligence community, but too often vendors and defense acquisitions have not been on the same page, which has slowed the adoption of much needed innovative technologies. Part of the issue lies with vendors, who have been successful at supplying big weapons systems and proprietary technology customized to military specifications, but not as good at providing technical solutions to problems. Defense organizations, too, have found challenges in the gaps between acquisitions officials and their end users – ultimately resulting in significant investment spent developing proprietary tools rather than taking full advantage of the capabilities that exist in off-the-shelf technology.
One of my last jobs in British Military intelligence was to reach out to industry, using our lessons learned to improve the solutions provided in-theatre. Now, at Microsoft, I have the opportunity to work from the other side, informing the defense industry about the capabilities of Microsoft and its partners to better understand the existing platforms that can help meet their mission goals.
Big data analytics, cloud computing, and mobility are major trends in both the National Security community and in commercial IT, and we are working to match capabilities with needs. There still is heightened sensitivity around security and reliability in the cloud, and we are educating our customers to relieve these concerns. One example of the success we have had in bridging the gap between industry and Defense is that Office 365 has been accredited at ‘Official’ and therefore acceptable for use by the U.K. Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry’s CIO has said that the future of the M.O.D lies with Office 365.
Better aligning our capabilities with our customers’ needs will enable them to take better advantage of technologies and services to support their teams, connect their forces, and fulfill their missions. That process begins when military and industry speak the same language from development to acquisition to end-user.
Dylan Thomas
Public Safety and National Security Industry Manager, Microsoft U.K.
