Andy Reed
“We bring a visibility to customers that help them understand the health and operational rhythm of their systems.”
EM: Could you tell our readers about what Serco does and what federal markets do you serve?
Dave Dacquino: Serco is a diversified public service company primarily serving the Federal government. Our business is focused on three market sectors – Defense, Transportation and Citizen Services. In our defense business, Serco provides critical support services to all branches of the military. We deliver services in the areas of ship modernization, shore and base modernization, hardware integration, acquisition and program management, logistics, and personnel readiness. In the area of Transportation, we help customers maintain vital transportation pathways while keeping citizens moving. Our transportation services include Intelligent Transportation Systems, air navigation services, rail, fleet management, and parking. The final piece of our business is Citizen Services with the largest portion of our work is case management support, where we help customers maintain large-scale, high-volume programs.
EM: Can you talk about how your background and experiences prepared you for the role of chairman and CEO of Serco North America?
Dave Dacquino: I started my career in Lockheed Martin. I was there for 20 years, served in four different divisions — everything from the production side of the house to the research and development side to electronics and service business. I then spent seven years in Raytheon in an engineering-intensive business in missile systems, but ended up back in the services side of the business. Looking back, in both of my careers at two large companies like Lockheed and Raytheon, I started in a very technical area, but ended up on the services side of the business. It is a fast moving business and that is where the action is. After Raytheon, I served as CEO of VT Group, which was then purchased by Babcock, also a British company. So I understand the process of how to work with a proxy board and an SSA for a foreign owned company doing classified sensitive work for the United States. Afterward I served as CEO of Skylink Aviation, a service company in the aviation side of the business headquartered in the Middle East deploying folks around world. Then in 2015, I joined Serco, as Senior Vice President of the Defense business. My years of experience in working for large companies, in the federal government space, and within the service industry has prepared me to take on this new CEO role at Serco.
EM: Can you talk about some of the opportunities at Serco?
Dave Dacquino: I am excited about the way Serco has been positioning itself in the business. Our Defense business is moving up the value chain into areas where we install state-of-the art communication systems and then help the government understand the optimal designs for that equipment as they roll them out of production. Our Citizen Services offerings fall in the sweet spot of delivering rigorous processes for eligibility, verification(s), and classifications in very intensive fast paced settings. This type of program integrity is now being required in all parts of the Federal government. Under our Transportation business, look for us to expand our delivery of innovative solutions that build towards future capacity requirements while still focusing on safe and efficient outcomes. I believe we find ourselves in an opportunity-rich space and I see major growth opportunities in all of our sectors.
“We are keenly aware of our customers’ systems and processes, and we understand their vision”Â
EM: Across the Federal government agencies, what do you see as the biggest challenges our Federal government has in IT and professional services?
Dave Dacquino: From an operational standpoint, the federal government is struggling with legacy IT systems. They cannot afford to go and buy all new systems. Serco’s offering, which is coveted by the government, is helping them keep their systems operational, relevant and secure, until they have appropriate funding to procure new systems. Additionally, getting systems ready to move to the cloud is a very important aspect of what Serco can do and has done successfully. We are keenly aware of our customers’ systems and processes, and we understand their vision as we help them move legacy systems to the cloud.
EM: What new markets do you see the company entering in the next five years?
Dave Dacquino: We bring a visibility to customers that help them understand the health and operational rhythm of their systems. That involves everything from understanding critical data and key performance indicators, to the process of understanding how a program is functioning and then displaying critical metrics in a way that helps them operate and improve their business. This is a space where we like to play; and a space where I firmly believe we are positioned to excel.
