Doug Lane had all but hung up his boots to end his 30-year career in IT and consulting when a call from a headhunter this past spring persuaded him to perform a 180.
The former A.T. Kearney lead partner stepped into his role at Capgemini Government Solutions (Capgemini GS) as chief executive this past May drawn by the organization’s set of capabilities and relatively small stature.
“I couldn’t have thought of a better role or opportunity for me to take [than joining Capgemini as CEO]and it was certainly enticing enough to get me to un-retire and get back into the game.”
“I knew Capgemini GS was a great organization, [with]a great set of capabilities, focused on a market that I knew well….so to me, the chance to lead the organization was a perfect situation,” Lane told WashingtonExec in a recent interview, noting he started itching for a new business challenge at the end of last year.
“I couldn’t have thought of a better role or opportunity for me to take [than joining Capgemini as CEO]and it was certainly enticing enough to get me to un-retire and get back into the game.”
Lane, who began his professional life working at a running shoe shop while attending night classes at Towson State University, has come a long way since his retail days.
Armed with a vision for growth, he hopes in his new role to combat the overall federal budget decline to organically increase the company’s bottom line on the federal and state level by capturing new business and expanding the company’s capabilities.
“We have services that our clients want that are not being satisfied today and so it’s a good opportunity for us to increase our market share.”
Right now, the transformation, consulting and IT services company holds contracts primarily with GSA, military health services and the departments of Agriculture, Treasury and Homeland Security – including a spot on DHS Eagle II.
While spending within parts of federal agencies like DHS, HHS and Treasury is increasing, Lane said, agency budgets do not need to expand for Capgemini GS’s business to expand.
“We’re looking to take market share in a variety of different ways in those agencies,” Lane said, noting that government contractors during the past year won re-competes at rates just under 60 percent – historically quite low, according to analysis compiled by Wolf Den Associates. “In my mind, that’s reflective of the government being somewhat dissatisfied with the types of services they are receiving,” he said. “We have services that our clients want that are not being satisfied today and so it’s a good opportunity for us to increase our market share.”
That means where other government focused contractors have chosen to face the stagnant market by cutting their indirect costs to amp up efficiency Lane wants to take Capgemini GS a different route.
“The larger government focused contractors tend to focus on cutting their indirect costs which typically results in decreased client service. For us, at a high level, part of our strategy is that we’re doing the exact opposite. We’re investing in things that we think will increase client service,” Lane said. “We’re adding senior time, working on developing intellectual capabilities that our clients will be interested in, running utilization lower than some of our competitors to free up time for our consultants to work on tasks that we think will add value to our clients.”
The strategic plan draws from advice Lane received from a mentor at the start of his professional career about how to make smart decisions when different needs have the potential to pit the client, firm and individual against each other:
“You always ought to have this hierarchy in place when making decisions: Think about what’s best for the client first. If it’s a tie, then you can think about what’s best for the firm and if it’s still a tie, then you can think about the decision that’s best for you,” Lane said. “Clients are most important and the firm is more important than the individual. And that’s been great advice that’s guided me for the past 25 years. It’s served me well.”
The challenge that may prompt Lane to consult that advice when making future decisions? The government’s growing consolidation of large IT schedules. He said the move puts smaller firms at a disadvantage by reducing the number of available procurements.
“It whittles down the field to a number of big players and so it makes it difficult for clients to get access to a broader set of large, technology oriented firms,” Lane said. “We also see LPTA in too many areas where I would prefer to see the procurements be more of a best value or more of a pure capability driven selection process.”
Until attempts at procurement reform come to fruition, it looks like Lane has a lot keeping him busy.
