A U D ACIOUS ERA
Seven Business Practices
TR ANSFORMATIVE
BUSINESS PR ACTICES
OF THE AUDACIOUS ER A
INNOVATION IS IN A RUSH. AND WHILE
TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES TO OPEN NET WORKS
AND ACCELER ATE THE WAY WE WORK,
CULTURE HAS SIMIL ARLY BECOME A CRITICAL
INNOVATION CONDUIT. L ABORIOUS, INSUL AR
MODELS OF VALUE CREATION HAVE GIVEN WAY
TO SNAPPIER, COLL ABOR ATIVE APPROACHES.
THE RESULT? BETTER SOLUTIONS MORE OFTEN.
Our research shows
organizations increasingly
see innovation as a business
imperative, and as a result,
they are taking the offensive
to realize the value of first
mover advantage. Broadly
speaking, this orientation is
motivated by five triggers:
++ Improved top-line growth
(revenue)
++ Improved bottom-line
growth (efficiency)
++ An engaged workforce
(retention)
++ A culture of innovation
(organizational
transformation)
++ Access to diverse ideas
and capabilities (growth
environment)
Perhaps, for some, this is
not groundbreaking news.
Indeed, following the
industrial revolution, most
would concede that business
has traversed three distinct
‘eras’ of innovation. But
organizations with the most
mature innovation practices
are preparing to surge into a
fourth—the Audacious Era.
AUDACIOUS ERA | INTRODUCTION
3
E R A C O M PA R IS O N S
R&D ERA
ENTREPRENEURIAL
IDEATION
DEVELOPMENT
COLLABORATION
AUDACIOUS
100%
75%
50%
25%
LAUNCH & REFINE
RISK
THE R&D ERA
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ERA
THE COLLABORATION ERA
In the early years following
the Industrial Era, innovation
was more akin to invention.
Companies tinkered on
new products in isolation
and only revealed them to
the world when they were
complete. Think Bell and
the telephone, or Ford and
the automobile. This slower,
introspective approach relied
solely on organizations
to source all ideas and
technology in-house.
In response, cash-strapped
entrepreneurs fearlessly
Today, both big and small
organizations operate in a
networked global ecosystem.
The brightest ideas are
no longer shackled to the
brick and mortar of a single
institution. Technology
has extended the reach of
collaboration. The most
sophisticated organizations
forge alliances between
industry, non-profit, and
academic institutions to
source and package the
experimented with agile
development practices
and new business models.
The growing ubiquity of talent
and technology, coupled with
the willingness to release
proof-of-concepts into the
markets meant entrepreneurs
like Peter Thiel and Elon
Musk gained first mover
advantage by launching
products faster.
best ideas available.
T
THE AUDACIOUS ER A
With immersive collaboration lowering time
to market and raising the quality of products
and services, business must soon transform
again. In the near future, companies will no
longer wait for market conditions to change.
They will actively create the demand. This
transformation will require companies to
place one or more audacious bets.
At Booz Allen, we’re already innovating in
audacious ways. We have identified six growth
platforms in Cyber, Engineering, Systems
Delivery, our Innovation portfolio, as well as
our Commercial and International businesses.
These big bets will accelerate our core
business and have the potential to shake up
the status quo, invent new industries, and
improve market share and profit models.
It’s a bold new way of thinking. And it doesn’t
happen overnight. In fact, our research suggests
that transitioning out of the Collaboration
Era and into the Audacious Era requires
organizations to refine and perfect seven
business practices:
++ Network of Inputs: Openly source ideas
with your partners
++ Disciplined Processes: Reduce timeto-market
++ Inorganic Growth: Crowdsource talent
and capability gaps
++ Digital Enablers: Increase collisions
between the ideas of dispersed people
++ Organizational Structure: Make big
businesses more agile
++ Culture and Engagement: Encourage
creativity and experimentation
++ Platform Innovation: Pursue new
applications for existing infrastructure
Institutionalizing these practices, while
seizing the ambition to place big bets, will be
the hallmarks of successful Audacious Era
organizations. At Booz Allen, we’ve installed a
proven approach for some of these practices
and are polishing our vision for the others.
AUDACIOUS ERA | INTRODUCTION
5
NET WORK
OF INPUTS
AS ORGANIZATIONS TRANSITION INTO THE
AUDACIOUS ERA, UBIQUITOUS INTEGRATED
INNOVATION WILL BECOME THE NORM.
BUSINESS ALLIANCES WILL FUSE TOGETHER
LIKE NEURAL CONNECTIONS IN THE BRAIN.
INDUSTRIES WILL BECOME A SMARTER—
AND MORE NIMBLE—COLLECTIVE, AS THE
NETWORK OF INPUTS AMONG AND BETWEEN
ORGANIZATIONS IN INDUSTRY, NON-PROFITS,
AND ACADEMIA CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN,
INTERTWINE, AND BLEND TOGETHER.
AUDACIOUS ERA | NETWORK OF INPUTS
7
NET WORK OF INPUTS
Academia/
ACADEMIA/
SMEs
SMES
Customers/
CUSTOMERS/
clients
CLIENTS
Incubators/
INCUBATORS/
Accelerators
ACCELERATORS
YOUR
ORGANIZATION
Internal
INTERNAL
Executives
EXECUTIVES
Peer
PEER
Organizations
ORGANIZATIONS
Internal
INTERNAL
Employees
EMPLOYEES
Once established, knowledge,
insights, and ideas stream
between connected
organizations. Whereas in
the past, the primary (and
sometimes exclusive) goal of
an external partnership was the
immediate execution of new
work, the future will look
very different. Alliances
will chiefly forge symbiotic,
reciprocal relationships
around idea generation.
While revenue will remain
critical to growth, it’s
not the only way to build
new value. Strengthening
brand equity, owning a
space that you monetize
later, and engaging, retaining,
and inspiring talent are
also valuable pursuits.
JELLYFISH COLLABORATION IS
JUST THE WAY WE’LL DO BUSINESS
For example, we created Project Jellyfish,
our open source cloud broker platform,
through our client and industry partnerships.
A client challenge at a giant government
agency motivated the initial need for the
platform, which we co-created through
our partners at Red Hat and a startup
we encountered through Texas-based
accelerator, Capital Factory.
Early in our collaboration, we spotted the
adjacent potential of Red Hat’s ManageIQ
project, and began exploring ways to augment
and assemble it differently for our challenge.
As a broker solution, Project Jellyfish unifies
Red Hat’s solution with disparate cloud
resources, including Infrastructure as a
Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS),
and Software as a Service (SaaS). The result
is a rapid self-service marketplace, reusable
code, scalable infrastructure, and the ability
to accurately track and report cloud services
usage and costs.
MOVE TO WHERE THE ACTION IS
As Galileo once proved, we aren’t the center
of the universe. That’s why we’re gravitating
towards places with real momentum. We’re
using Innovation Hubs across the U.S. as
entry points to ideate and co-invest with
startups, investors, academia, and R&D
companies. Our physical orbit in these
communities provides reciprocal value in
co-investment opportunities, access to
new problems and clients, and recruitment,
training, and mentorship opportunities.
Collaborative partnerships are currently seen
as business accelerators. They supplement
an organization’s processes. In the Audacious
Era, a strong, well maintained network of
external inputs will be fundamental in daily
business operations. Truly open networks will
simply become how industry fails, adapts,
and learns faster.
The collaborative instincts between the
networks of the organizations involved
made the project possible. The refinement
or perfection of this practice is merely to
embrace those instincts.
AUDACIOUS ERA | NETWORK OF INPUTS
9
DISCIPLINED
PROCESSES
THE AGGRESSIVE TRANSITION TO
PERVASIVE COLLABORATION, ONE TRAIT
OF THE AUDACIOUS ERA, IS A WIN-WIN FOR
ORGANIZATIONS THAT SEE INNOVATION
AS NECESSARY, AND A PART OF EVERYDAY
ACTIVITIES. COLLABORATION REDUCES
TIME-TO-MARKET WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY
IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES AS INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS
SIMPLY CREATE BETTER SOLUTIONS.
AUDACIOUS ERA | DISCIPLINED PROCESSES
11
I N N OVAT I O N B LU E P R I N T
FOCUS
OUR AGENDA
SOLVE
CROSS-INDUSTRY
CHALLENGES
LEAD THROUGH
COLLABORATION
BUILD OUR
INTERNAL
ECOSYSTEM
DON’T
GO IT ALONE
DIVERSIFY
OUR PORTFOLIO
INSPIRE
OUR PEOPLE
RENEW OUR
BRAND VALUE
As the market adopts
this approach, however,
companies must take greater
risks to stay ahead of the
competition. One way they
can do that is by launching
products and services in
advance of market demand,
rather than relying solely on
lengthy, iterative processes
to test and perfect pre-launch.
The writing is on the walls.
At Booz Allen, we tallied these
risks and are accelerating
our core business through
six emerging growth platforms
(Commercial, Cyber, Engineering,
Innovation, International,
Systems Delivery.) We know
our clients have a growing
need for these capabilities,
so we’re actively building
products, services, and
solutions before they need
them, sometimes even before
the clients fully realize they
need them. It’s an approach
to innovation that requires a
disciplined process.
A BLUEPRINT FOR TRANSFORMATION
We developed our Innovation Blueprint in
2013 with this in mind. A series of connected
components and systems, we use the
Innovation Blueprint to source, supply,
and mature our own innovation practices.
Built off a cultural approach to innovation,
it uses repeatable processes and methods
to harness the power of our institution and
habitually collaborate with and participate
in the global innovation ecosystem.
While there is no ‘silver bullet’ to cultivate
a culture of engagement around innovation,
successful organizations consistently exhibit
agile progression, follow an established
process, and gain the commitment of
leadership. Industry research shows most
larger organizations will struggle to accelerate
a culture of innovation, which will leave
doors open for smaller firms to infiltrate
and steal market share.
Anyone across the organization can and
does respond. The BAHx is another example.
With this tool, Booz Allen’s developers store,
share, and reuse code and software. Both are
examples of tools that reduce the time to
develop and launch new products for clients.
When combined with the other cultural
elements from our Innovation Blueprint,
these tools add value to our employees, our
business, and our clients. They challenge our
employees to socialize their ideas and adopt
lean methodologies. They reduce ideation,
development, and launch time for new
products and services to reach the market.
And they source adjacent applications of
existing products and services for new clients.
Innovation requires speed, agility, and
risk-taking, but it shouldn’t be chaotic!
Digital collaboration tools and platforms are
major components of our disciplined cultural
innovation process. Booz Allen’s Garage, for
instance, is a web-based tool where staff
post challenges about their toughest business
problems to generate collaborative solutions.
AUDACIOUS ERA | DISCIPLINED PROCESSES
13
INORGANIC
GROW TH
INORGANIC GROWTH WILL ALWAYS HELP
ORGANIZATIONS BUILD ORIGINAL VALUE.
ACQUIRING COMPANIES TO FILL SPECIFIC
CAPABILITY OR MARKET GAPS CAN
IMMEDIATELY INTRODUCE NEW BUSINESS
LINES; ACQUIRING SPECIALIZED TALENT CAN
TILT AN ORGANIZATION’S CULTURAL AND
COGNITIVE APPROACH TO PROBLEM SOLVING.
BUT IN THE AUDACIOUS ERA, ORGANIZATIONS
WILL INCREASINGLY LOOK TO CROWDSOURCE
TALENT OR CAPABILITY GAPS.
AUDACIOUS ERA | INORGANIC GROWTH
15
M ATURE COLL A BOR ATION ER A &
AUDACIOUS ER A
EN TREPRENEURIAL ER A &
E A RLY COLL A BOR ATION ER A
Organic
Growth
Organic
Growth
Network
of Inputs
Inorganic
Growth
Inorganic
Growth
TRADITIONAL INORGANIC GROWTH
The balance between an
organization’s organic and
inorganic growth is typically
governed by its culture, as
well as its strategic goals,
approach, and what it wants
to be known for.
Our recent acquisition of
health analytics startup
Epidemico, for example,
prioritizes long-term growth.
Rapid integration can disrupt
innovation-based acquisitions,
causing acquired talent to
concern themselves with
administrative details—such
as changes to insurance
policies or relocation—rather
than continued innovation.
Our methodical approach
to innovation-focused
acquisitions centers on a
three-to five-year incubation
period. The goal is to gradually
integrate staff, strengthen
collaboration, and build value
for our clients’ missions
over time.
In the Audacious Era, sharing resources
with customers and partner organizations
will augment traditional inorganic growth
strategies. Reaching first to existing external
partnerships to satisfy intermittent capability
needs, organizations will essentially
crowdsource additional talent and resources
through their networks.
Think of it as cloud computing applied to
inorganic growth. Rather than store all your
capabilities in one central location, you spread
it across a network. It means you can access
talent from anywhere across the network, and
grow your business without acquiring additional
capabilities. It’s a bold approach that brings
reciprocal value across three dimensions:
++ Enhanced brand recognition in new
markets and among new clients
Our Alliances and Ventures program is a
thriving example of this new inorganic growth
model in action. The reciprocal value between
our industry partners like Microsoft, Red Hat,
Amazon Web Services, and Intel, and our
relationships with accelerator partners like
1776 and Capital Factory, is access to one
another’s technology, expertise, and clients.
For Audacious Era organizations, strategic
ventures or acquisitions can grow your inhouse capabilities, but crowdsourcing and
alliances can accelerate your business growth
without accumulating additional assets.
++ Additional revenue streams through co-creation
++ Access to partners’ marketing and sales channels
AUDACIOUS ERA | NETWORD OF INPUTS
17
DIGITAL
ENABLERS
UNLIKE PEOPLE, IDEAS ARE NOT RESTRICTED
BY GEOGRAPHY. TODAY’S TECHNOLOGIES,
OR ‘DIGITAL ENABLERS,’ ATTRACT AN
ORGANIZATION CLOSER TO ITS EMPLOYEES,
PARTNERS, AND CUSTOMERS WITHOUT THE
NEED TO BE PHYSICALLY NEXT TO EACH OTHER.
WITH THE RIGHT COMBINATION OF DIGITAL
ENABLERS—THE TOOLS AND PROCESSES TO
IMPROVE SPEED, COSTS, AND QUALITY OF
WORK—ORGANIZATIONS CAN SWIFTLY ADJUST
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES IN RESPONSE TO
FLUCTUATIONS IN MARKETS MILES AWAY.
THEY MAKE BIG, BUREAUCRATIC BUSINESSES
MORE NIMBLE AND MORE PRODUCTIVE AS THEY
FORGE INTIMATE PROXIMITY BETWEEN IDEAS.
AUDACIOUS ERA | DIGITAL ENABLERS
19
DIGITAL TOOLS WILL ONLY
EVER BE AS VALUABLE AS THE
IDEAS SHARED WITHIN THEM.
THE NEED FOR DIGITAL ENABLERS
OPEN SWIMMING IN FRIENDLY WATERS
Like many companies of our scale, we have
invested in an ecosystem of digital enablers
for just this reason. With approximately 22,500
minds dispersed across the country and
abroad, we needed a way to both syndicate
ideas and nurture the best ones into future
business opportunities.
This is the principle behind the National
Data Science Bowl (NDSB). Co-sponsored
by Booz Allen and Kaggle, a leading analytics
platform, the NDSB connected Booz Allen
data scientists to an external community
of more than 1,200 others to help marine
researchers analyze oceanic health. Together,
the NDSB produced more than 15,000
submissions and algorithms, facilitated by
a platform for the community to collaborate
and post progress.
Take our internal Innovation Ecosystem,
which features a host of digital tools and
collaborative virtual spaces for staff to engage
with one another’s ideas. Employees can
participate in trainings, explore toolkits and
best practices, and post ideas to digital
forums for feedback and development.
Digital enablers also extend the value of
interactions when people come together. At
company-wide ideation events and hackathons,
our attendees augment their conversations
and connections with one another through
exclusive mobile apps. Engagement apps
enable participants to plan their daily
itineraries, find events, share new thoughts,
and vote on ideas throughout the day.
Without the right blend of tech-savvy
personnel, however, organizations won’t be
able to make the most of their tools. That’s
why a thick network of inputs is crucial. Digital
enablers require a web of engaged, smart
users with different interests and agendas to
make associations between ideas to drive new
value and decrease time-to-market. Digital
tools will only ever be as valuable as the ideas
shared within them. The best digital enablers
evolve as the community shapes them for their
own purposes.
The best digital enablers, however,
fuse internal and external collaboration.
AUDACIOUS ERA | DIGITAL ENABLERS
21
ORGANIZATIONAL
STRUCTURE
THE FREEDOM FOR EMPLOYEES TO
EXPLORE AND PLAY WITH NEW IDEAS
HAS A NATURAL TENSION WITH A BIG
ORGANIZATION’S INCLINATION TO
MANAGE RISK THROUGH PROCESS
STANDARDIZATION. TRADITIONALLY,
LARGE ORGANIZATIONS ARE BUILT FOR
EFFICIENCY, NOT EXPERIMENTATION.
FORMAL STRUCTURES CAN STIFLE
CREATIVITY, BUT REDESIGNING
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES MAKE
BIG BUSINESSES MORE NIMBLE.
AUDACIOUS ERA | ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
23
Innovation programs within big companies
slip some procedural bonds thanks, in part,
to their size. Small team structures enable
innovation programs to make strategic
decisions faster. The conventional wisdom
also states these ‘innovation teams’
should spend their time insulated from
the distractions of client and customer
obligations. At Booz Allen, we think differently.
THE STRATEGIC INNOVATION GROUP
Our Strategic Innovation Group (SIG) is a small
organization within Booz Allen. It accounts for
less than 10% of our organization in terms of
headcount. While its configuration and intent
promotes experimentation around specific
initiatives, we haven’t isolated it from the
rest of the firm. In fact, we did the opposite.
The SIG exists to inject original thinking
directly into the markets and across our
entire employee base.
The SIG is an investment in a bundled set of
core and progressive initiatives that we believe
can solve our clients’ toughest challenges.
This approach allows us to focus resources
and deploy lean methodology for prototyping
and maturing transformative solutions.
The results have been extraordinary.
Through our collaboration with clients and
partners we have taught soldiers to think
like MacGyver by converting trash can
lids into antennas to re-establish broken
communications. We’ve prescribed data
science to our partners in the commercial
pharmaceutical industry to revolutionize the
production of life saving medications. And
we’ve augmented our traditional consulting
ethos with products like VAMPIRE TM, our
ruggedized, handheld forensics device,
to move Booz Allen into new markets.
Unlike conventional innovation programs,
we intentionally made our innovation group
rotational. Around a quarter of SIG staff
shift in and out each year. In its first two
years, almost 1,000 people rotated in and
out of the SIG on ‘tours of duty.’ This cycle
allows SIG staff to focus on developing
new offerings and business, expand their
professional capabilities, and make them
even more valuable to the market upon their
return.
UNLIKE CONVENTIONAL
INNOVATION PROGRAMS,
WE INTENTIONALLY MADE
OUR INNOVATION GROUP
ROTATIONAL
AUDACIOUS ERA | ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
25
CULTURE &
ENGAGEMENT
LIKE OPERATIONAL MODELS, CULTURE ISN’T
CREATED BY CHANCE. IT’S ENGINEERED. IT’S
PRACTICED. IT’S DISCIPLINED. AND IT STARTS
WITH PEOPLE. THE TRUTH IS THAT WHILE
ORGANIZATIONS CREATE THE CONDITIONS
FOR CREATIVITY, PEOPLE DO THE ORIGINAL
THINKING. IT’S THEIR IDEAS AND PASSIONS
THAT CHALLENGE PRECONCEPTIONS AND
PROPEL EXPLORATION INTO NEW INDUSTRIES.
IN THE AUDACIOUS ERA, COMPANIES WILL TAKE
CALCULATED STEPS TO ENCOURAGE CREATIVITY
IN THEIR PEOPLE AND GROW NEW IDEAS.
AUDACIOUS ERA | CULTURE & ENGAGEMENT
27
A CULTURE OF INNOVATION
spark creativity, mature solutions and propel
the best ideas forward
• PEOPLE PROGR AMS — Hiring, development
and engagement approaches that result in
differentiated skillsets to deploy to the market
s
e nt
Ev
s on
Pe r
• E VENTS — Internal and external activities to
In
environments to enable high-quality interaction,
exploration and problem solving
POINTS OF COLLABORATION
• SPACES — Internal and external collaborative
Sp a c e s
A series of cultural components and
systems to source, supply and mature our
firm’s innovation practices, to enable an
environment of sustainable growth
Pe
l
op
eP
r
r
og
l
Too
• TOOLS — A suite of crowdsourcing, open
s
am
s
e ch
&T
nol
og y
In ce ntive
s
source, and collaboration methods and
tools to generate ideas and solutions
• INCENTIVES — Mechanisms to inspire,
reward and support the generation of
bold ideas, risk taking, and engagement
INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT TO CONTRIBUTE AND THRIVE
DIVERSE POPULATION EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK LOOP RISK TOLERANCE
TRUST IN LEADERSHIP ALLOTED TIME TO INNOVATE HIGH QUALITY TALENT
ESTABLISH A TRUE NORTH
As we know, big companies
are built for efficiency. Driving
strategy through culture,
however, can soften this
rigidity. Leadership must
encourage sensible risk taking
and set a strategic ‘true north’
as a guide for employees
to follow and aspire to. The
audacious investments in our
growth platforms establish
this vision while allowing us to
remain agile and responsive
to our clients’ needs, and our
people’s brightest ideas.
EVENTS, PROGRAMS, AND INCENTIVES
TO INSPIRE YOUR PEOPLE
SPACES AND TOOLS THAT
CONNECT THEM TO NEW IDEAS
We believe that our people should work
on tough problems that excite them. Smart
people need the oxygen of a new challenge
to stay engaged, which is why our people
programs invite employees to develop
careers around meaningful opportunities,
persistent learning, and ‘tours of duty’
within different parts of our business. As
consultants, it strikes at our core to wrestle
with a new challenge. Once we’ve solved it
we want the next one, so we encourage our
employees to engage.
It’s typical for employees to gain exposure
to multiple markets and clients during
their careers with Booz Allen. Their need
for an entangled network of inputs is as
much an internal mandate as an external one,
which is why we integrate our virtual tools
with in-person Functional Communities that
apply our problem solving across multiple
industries. In order to facilitate these crosscapability discussions, we’re establishing
Innovation Labs across our regional offices
where staff can access new technology, and
work in an environment that challenges their
ways of thinking.
With incentives like our iTime initiative,
we’re recognizing and investing in the
self-directed time our employees spend
beyond their day jobs tinkering on ideas
that have original business value. And we
inspire them to think differently about these
problems with a calendar full of ideation
events to engage them in discussions about
disruptive technology, global challenges,
and groundbreaking thought leadership.
These physical spaces and digital tools
allow our management consultants to mingle
with our engineers, our scientists, and our
technologists. While we can’t always predict
the output of their interactions, it increases
the chances for attractive ideas to collide
in unexpected ways. It’s through these
communities and forums that our people can
let their ideas breathe with their colleagues,
and learn new techniques to solve old problems.
AUDACIOUS ERA | CULTURE & ENGAGEMENT
29
PL ATFORM
INNOVATION
AS ORGANIZATIONS MATURE THEIR
INNOVATION PRACTICES, THEY WILL ABOLISH
THE IDEA OF PROVIDING A SINGULAR
VALUE TO THEIR CUSTOMERS. THEY WILL
INSTEAD WIN NEW BUSINESS, ENTICE NEW
CUSTOMERS, AND CREATE NEW SOLUTIONS
BY PURSUING NEW APPLICATIONS FOR THEIR
EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE.
AUDACIOUS ERA | PLATFORM INNOVATION
31
C R E AT E N E W P L AT F O R M S
C R E AT E N E W A DJAC E N C I ES
PLATFORM
PLATFORM
ADJACENCIES
A COMPANY’S INVESTMENTS CAN BOTH AUGMENT
EXISTING AND CREATE NEW PLATFORMS THAT DISRUPT
MARKETS AND CREATE DEMAND FOR PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES THAT PREVIOUSLY DIDN’T EXIST.
ADJACENT PLATFORMS
NEW PLATFORMS
Platform innovation occurs in two ways.
First, companies can build off adjacent
business opportunities. By extending previously
created infrastructure into new markets,
companies create transformative value.
The alternative is crafting completely new
platforms. This route requires leaders to
identify unmet market needs. Our partners,
Amazon Web Services (AWS), created the
first enterprise Infrastructure-as-a-Service
platform, having identified the need for more
efficient data storage. They made large
capital investments in servers to support
the “Christmas rush” on their e-Commerce
platform, and repurposed the unused
computing resources as AWS.
Through our support of the a major
DoD client, for instance, we built a cloud
architecture that syncs threat intelligence
from multiple branches of the military and
delivers specific intelligence to an analyst
from a particular branch. It means when
an Air Force analyst needs information
for a certain mission, they have access
to what the entire military knows, not just
the intelligence gathered by the Air Force.
This platform technology has since spread
to adjacent markets. It was integral, for
instance, in standing up the core architecture
that allows a counter-warfare U.S. military
organization’s previously distinct systems
to communicate and exchange information.
These two trends in platform creation
confront our clients with numerous options
for implementing new services. There are
countless ways to expand the use of existing
technologies. Inside Booz Allen, we also seek
to continually improve the ways we use our
own internal platforms against this everchanging landscape.
Armed with this insight, we are developing
a cross-platform framework known as
Chorus. This platform will integrate a
common set of Cloud Computing, Analytics,
Predictive Intelligence and Digital Ecosystem
platforms to unshackle a rapid go-to-market
capability for investments, business
growth opportunities, and most importantly,
our client delivery efforts.
AUDACIOUS ERA | PLATFORM INNOVATION
33
B O OZ A L L E N H A M I LT O N , I N C . © 2 0 1 5
Booz Allen Hamilton has been
at the forefront of strategy and
technology for more than 100
years. Today, the firm provides
management and technology
consulting and engineering
services to governments in the
civil, defense, and intelligence
markets, global corporations,
and not-for-profit organizations.
Booz Allen partners with private
and public sector clients to solve
their most difficult challenges.
Headquartered in McLean,
Virginia, the firm employs more
than 22,500 people globally,
and had revenue of $5.27 billion
for the 12 months ended March
31, 2015. To learn more, visit
www.boozallen.com. (NYSE: BAH)
Excerpts included reflect findings
from joint research project
between Booz Allen Hamilton
Strategic Innovation Group and
Kaiser Associates, Inc.