When Lockheed Martin sold off its Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) business segment globally to Leidos earlier this year, it created more than just another Defence IT business.
Katherine Ziesing | Canberra
Leidos probably isn’t the most well known of names in the Australian market, as before the IG&GS business came on board their local presence was barely 50 people in Melbourne. In an Australian context, the old Lockheed Martin business of roughly 750 people in Canberra and Melbourne has absorbed the Leidos business under the new banner.
Leidos globally is now a $US10 billion business across a number of sectors including defence, health, government, advanced solutions (C4ISR) and security/intelligence with defence making up 30 per cent of the overall business. The purchase of the IS&GS business more than doubles almost every metric they have in terms of people, turnover, and contracts.
Senior vice president and managing director of Leidos Australia Christine Zeitz expects the Leidos business will debut on ADM’s next Top 40 list of Defence Contractors somewhere in the top 10.
In Australia, Leidos combines former IS&GS contracts like Defence’s Centralised Processing program valued at almost $1 billion to consolidate over 200 data centres to 12 core centres and virtualises >5,000 servers, plus a number of others including:
• ATO program – roughly $470 million Service Management and End User Computing contracts;
• JP 2030 - Joint Command Support Environment HQJOC providing operational support and development to prime contractor CSC;
• Sea 1770 – roughly $35 million Rapid Environmental Assessment Project for Navy; and
• various programs under their classified intelligence contracts with a range of agencies.
A number of pursuits are also in train as a down selected bidder under Land 2110 for a CBRN capability, further work under JP 2030, a down-selected bidder for support to the Defence Secret Network under JP 2096, and bidding for Department of Human Services as lead systems integrator for Welfare Payment Integration and Transformation program.
“Given the way the Australian industry is managed, we believe that we also have a lot to offer in the health space,” Roger Krone, Leidos chairman and CEO told ADM. Krone is no stranger to the Australian market himself, having worked for Boeing in Australia in the early Wedgetail days. “We do a lot of the analytics and business process support behind the scenes in health. We’re very big in the US, both civil and military, and we do a little bit of work in the UK in health; we’re just in the process of getting to know the Australian market.”
Krone was in country in September as part of a global tour in the wake of the expansion, explaining the updated business to the 33,000-strong global workforce.
“We’re not a platform-based business; we’re about solving customer problems, usually in government or highly regulated industries, through the smart use of information technology,” Krone said. “Our priority in Australia is to execute on the programs we have in place already.
“Our ability to do what we do in terms of large IT is embodied in our people who come to work every day and the relationships that they bring with them,” Krone said. “We’re not going to pack up our bags and leave if times get tough. This is an important market which we’re actively investing in.”
The company is optimistic about increasing its local R&D spend in Australia with an expanded range of partnerships with universities and other relevant bodies.