Our “Learn the Market” webinar series continues on Tuesday, November 7th at 2pm eastern with a session on how to buy drones. We are fortunate to be joined by a great panel of public sector experts that we’ll introduce tomorrow. And we are particularly excited about this session because the topic is of considerable relevance right now.
For one thing, drones have been deployed with great benefit to assist in recovery operations in the wake of recent natural disasters. From surveying property damage to reseeding federal lands ravaged by wildfires to inspecting infrastructure, drones can do things that their human counterparts either can’t do, won’t do, or can do but less efficiently.
And we are aware of a nationwide solicitation for drone operators that’s about to hit the street – if you’re a buyer or a vendor, you’ll want to attend just to learn more about this.
But our primary question for November 7th is how can procurement professionals and their program office counterparts begin to think about buying drones. Should the focus be on buying the hardware, or instead on contracting for the outcomes (e.g., Drones-as-a-Service)?
It’s a bit of a leading question, and I already know how I’d answer the question, but I’m very curious to hear from our audience. Has anyone had experience buying into the drone marketplace? Our expert panel has. Share your thoughts and questions here, and make sure to register for How to Buy Drones on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we’ve got a great panel lined up for our webinar on How to Buy Drones, which we look forward to delivering on 11/7 at 2pm eastern. In this post, I’ll introduce each of them.
Mark L. Bathrick┬ádirects a nationwide aviation services business for the U.S. Department of the Interior. In his current role, he oversees the safe operation of over 1,200 contracted and government-owned manned and unmanned aircraft across a wide range of business applications. He has over 25 years’ experience in unmanned aircraft systems and has consulted with the highest levels of government, industry, and academia on these technologies. Prior to his current role, Mark completed a career as a decorated Navy fighter pilot, TOPGUN graduate, experimental test pilot, multiple squadron commander, and installation commander.┬á
Rob Ehrich is the CEO and Founder of slipstream strategies, which specializes in strategic government affairs consulting in the commercial unmanned aircraft systems & drone space to help companies grow their market. He created slipstream strategies out of a passion for unmanned aircraft technology and an awareness of the need among emerging businesses in this sector for representation in Washington. A goal-oriented Government Affairs professional with 15+ years of cross-functional experience in the areas of transportation, defense, appropriations and national health security, Rob will provide webinar participants with a clearer understanding of the regulatory outlook for drones in both the public and commercial sectors.
Matthew Fritzinger is a Statewide Strategic Sourcing Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of General Services. He is currently leading the National Association of State Procurement Official’s (NASPO) Unmanned Aerial Systems Services contract team, which is comprised of procurement professionals from across the United States. When awarded, this contract will enable public agencies at all levels to procure drone services from pre-qualified vendors. Mattew has been a public procurement professional for 6 years and will share lessons learned from his experience in researching the drone marketplace and developing NASPO’s national contract.
Register today to learn from some of the best in the business. If you have questions for our panel, please share them in this discussion thread and we’ll make a point to ask them on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 11-01-2017 15:58
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
Our “Learn the Market” webinar series continues on Tuesday, November 7th at 2pm eastern with a session on how to buy drones. We are fortunate to be joined by a great panel of public sector experts that we’ll introduce tomorrow. And we are particularly excited about this session because the topic is of considerable relevance right now.
For one thing, drones have been deployed with great benefit to assist in recovery operations in the wake of recent natural disasters. From surveying property damage to reseeding federal lands ravaged by wildfires to inspecting infrastructure, drones can do things that their human counterparts either can’t do, won’t do, or can do but less efficiently.
And we are aware of a nationwide solicitation for drone operators that’s about to hit the street – if you’re a buyer or a vendor, you’ll want to attend just to learn more about this.
But our primary question for November 7th is how can procurement professionals and their program office counterparts begin to think about buying drones. Should the focus be on buying the hardware, or instead on contracting for the outcomes (e.g., Drones-as-a-Service)?
It’s a bit of a leading question, and I already know how I’d answer the question, but I’m very curious to hear from our audience. Has anyone had experience buying into the drone marketplace? Our expert panel has. Share your thoughts and questions here, and make sure to register for How to Buy Drones on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
We also want to thank NASPO as a partner on the webinar.┬á NASPO and NASPO Value Point are doing some great things around drones.┬á @Jason Soza┬ápointed out some guidance they laid out recently.┬á Excited to hear and learn.┬á Here’s the article Jason provided.ΓÇïΓÇï┬á┬á
http://www.naspo.org/Publications/ArtMID/8806/ArticleID/4482
——————————
Raj Sharma
Public Spend Forum
Washington DC
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 11-02-2017 17:44
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we’ve got a great panel lined up for our webinar on How to Buy Drones, which we look forward to delivering on 11/7 at 2pm eastern. In this post, I’ll introduce each of them.
Mark L. Bathrick┬ádirects a nationwide aviation services business for the U.S. Department of the Interior. In his current role, he oversees the safe operation of over 1,200 contracted and government-owned manned and unmanned aircraft across a wide range of business applications. He has over 25 years’ experience in unmanned aircraft systems and has consulted with the highest levels of government, industry, and academia on these technologies. Prior to his current role, Mark completed a career as a decorated Navy fighter pilot, TOPGUN graduate, experimental test pilot, multiple squadron commander, and installation commander.
Rob Ehrich is the CEO and Founder of slipstream strategies, which specializes in strategic government affairs consulting in the commercial unmanned aircraft systems & drone space to help companies grow their market. He created slipstream strategies out of a passion for unmanned aircraft technology and an awareness of the need among emerging businesses in this sector for representation in Washington. A goal-oriented Government Affairs professional with 15+ years of cross-functional experience in the areas of transportation, defense, appropriations and national health security, Rob will provide webinar participants with a clearer understanding of the regulatory outlook for drones in both the public and commercial sectors.
Matthew Fritzinger is a Statewide Strategic Sourcing Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of General Services. He is currently leading the National Association of State Procurement Official’s (NASPO) Unmanned Aerial Systems Services contract team, which is comprised of procurement professionals from across the United States. When awarded, this contract will enable public agencies at all levels to procure drone services from pre-qualified vendors. Mattew has been a public procurement professional for 6 years and will share lessons learned from his experience in researching the drone marketplace and developing NASPO’s national contract.
Register today to learn from some of the best in the business. If you have questions for our panel, please share them in this discussion thread and we’ll make a point to ask them on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
Original Message:
Sent: 11-01-2017 15:58
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
Our “Learn the Market” webinar series continues on Tuesday, November 7th at 2pm eastern with a session on how to buy drones. We are fortunate to be joined by a great panel of public sector experts that we’ll introduce tomorrow. And we are particularly excited about this session because the topic is of considerable relevance right now.
For one thing, drones have been deployed with great benefit to assist in recovery operations in the wake of recent natural disasters. From surveying property damage to reseeding federal lands ravaged by wildfires to inspecting infrastructure, drones can do things that their human counterparts either can’t do, won’t do, or can do but less efficiently.
And we are aware of a nationwide solicitation for drone operators that’s about to hit the street – if you’re a buyer or a vendor, you’ll want to attend just to learn more about this.
But our primary question for November 7th is how can procurement professionals and their program office counterparts begin to think about buying drones. Should the focus be on buying the hardware, or instead on contracting for the outcomes (e.g., Drones-as-a-Service)?
It’s a bit of a leading question, and I already know how I’d answer the question, but I’m very curious to hear from our audience. Has anyone had experience buying into the drone marketplace? Our expert panel has. Share your thoughts and questions here, and make sure to register for How to Buy Drones on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
I’m getting ready to host a dry run of tomorrow’s webinar on How to Buy Drones and wanted to share some links to the resources that I’ve studied and will be sourcing for the actual discussion. These are good materials here for anyone looking to gain some market intelligence in this sector!
Skylogic Research, LLC released its 2017 Drone Market Sector Report. Its available for sale on their website, but you can read the highlights on their blog post.
UAVCoach.com has a listing of 80 Drone Companies to Watch in 2017. The list includes manufacturers, software providers, and any other entities that are a part of the drone ecosystem.
State & Local Regulation of UAS Fact Sheet – FAA Office of Chief Counsel, 12/17/15
Gartner categorizes drones as an emerging technology for 2017, and plotted them in their annual hype cycle. 
Drone Industry Insights (DRONEII.com – Drone Industry Insights – Drone Market Studies & Reports) looks at the global market for drones and has several free white papers and content pieces that are relevant to this sector.
UAV Global offers a listing of 456 global drone manufacturers: List All Manufacturers
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 11-03-2017 08:44
From: Raj Sharma
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
We also want to thank NASPO as a partner on the webinar.┬á NASPO and NASPO Value Point are doing some great things around drones.┬á @Jason Soza┬ápointed out some guidance they laid out recently.┬á Excited to hear and learn.┬á Here’s the article Jason provided.ΓÇïΓÇï┬á┬á
http://www.naspo.org/Publications/ArtMID/8806/ArticleID/4482
——————————
Raj Sharma
Public Spend Forum
Washington DC
——————————
Original Message:
Sent: 11-02-2017 17:44
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we’ve got a great panel lined up for our webinar on How to Buy Drones, which we look forward to delivering on 11/7 at 2pm eastern. In this post, I’ll introduce each of them.
Mark L. Bathrick┬ádirects a nationwide aviation services business for the U.S. Department of the Interior. In his current role, he oversees the safe operation of over 1,200 contracted and government-owned manned and unmanned aircraft across a wide range of business applications. He has over 25 years’ experience in unmanned aircraft systems and has consulted with the highest levels of government, industry, and academia on these technologies. Prior to his current role, Mark completed a career as a decorated Navy fighter pilot, TOPGUN graduate, experimental test pilot, multiple squadron commander, and installation commander.
Rob Ehrich is the CEO and Founder of slipstream strategies, which specializes in strategic government affairs consulting in the commercial unmanned aircraft systems & drone space to help companies grow their market. He created slipstream strategies out of a passion for unmanned aircraft technology and an awareness of the need among emerging businesses in this sector for representation in Washington. A goal-oriented Government Affairs professional with 15+ years of cross-functional experience in the areas of transportation, defense, appropriations and national health security, Rob will provide webinar participants with a clearer understanding of the regulatory outlook for drones in both the public and commercial sectors.
Matthew Fritzinger is a Statewide Strategic Sourcing Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of General Services. He is currently leading the National Association of State Procurement Official’s (NASPO) Unmanned Aerial Systems Services contract team, which is comprised of procurement professionals from across the United States. When awarded, this contract will enable public agencies at all levels to procure drone services from pre-qualified vendors. Mattew has been a public procurement professional for 6 years and will share lessons learned from his experience in researching the drone marketplace and developing NASPO’s national contract.
Register today to learn from some of the best in the business. If you have questions for our panel, please share them in this discussion thread and we’ll make a point to ask them on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
Original Message:
Sent: 11-01-2017 15:58
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
Our “Learn the Market” webinar series continues on Tuesday, November 7th at 2pm eastern with a session on how to buy drones. We are fortunate to be joined by a great panel of public sector experts that we’ll introduce tomorrow. And we are particularly excited about this session because the topic is of considerable relevance right now.
For one thing, drones have been deployed with great benefit to assist in recovery operations in the wake of recent natural disasters. From surveying property damage to reseeding federal lands ravaged by wildfires to inspecting infrastructure, drones can do things that their human counterparts either can’t do, won’t do, or can do but less efficiently.
And we are aware of a nationwide solicitation for drone operators that’s about to hit the street – if you’re a buyer or a vendor, you’ll want to attend just to learn more about this.
But our primary question for November 7th is how can procurement professionals and their program office counterparts begin to think about buying drones. Should the focus be on buying the hardware, or instead on contracting for the outcomes (e.g., Drones-as-a-Service)?
It’s a bit of a leading question, and I already know how I’d answer the question, but I’m very curious to hear from our audience. Has anyone had experience buying into the drone marketplace? Our expert panel has. Share your thoughts and questions here, and make sure to register for How to Buy Drones on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday’s webinar on How to Buy Drones, and a special thanks to our all-star panel!
Rob Ehrich from slipstream strategies mentioned the President’s memorandum on expanding the safe use of drones and exploring further applications for the public and private sector through pilot programs, among other things. The Federal Register notice on this memorandum is available, and we’re linking to it here.
There is also a short webinar produced by the FAA called UAS Integration Pilot Program Webinar. Check it out if you want to learn more!
And if you were unable to join us yesterday (or want to review anything you might have missed), please check out a recorded version of How to Buy Drones here!
We look forward to doing more content on this topic, ideally by hosting some drone companies and having them describe to our public sector audience some of the challenges in providing services to governments. If you’re a drone company and would be interested in supporting such a session, please let me know!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 11-06-2017 12:33
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
I’m getting ready to host a dry run of tomorrow’s webinar on How to Buy Drones and wanted to share some links to the resources that I’ve studied and will be sourcing for the actual discussion. These are good materials here for anyone looking to gain some market intelligence in this sector!
Skylogic Research, LLC released its 2017 Drone Market Sector Report. Its available for sale on their website, but you can read the highlights on their blog post.
UAVCoach.com has a listing of 80 Drone Companies to Watch in 2017. The list includes manufacturers, software providers, and any other entities that are a part of the drone ecosystem.
State & Local Regulation of UAS Fact Sheet – FAA Office of Chief Counsel, 12/17/15
Gartner categorizes drones as an emerging technology for 2017, and plotted them in their annual hype cycle.
Drone Industry Insights (DRONEII.com – Drone Industry Insights – Drone Market Studies & Reports) looks at the global market for drones and has several free white papers and content pieces that are relevant to this sector.
UAV Global offers a listing of 456 global drone manufacturers: List All Manufacturers
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
Original Message:
Sent: 11-03-2017 08:44
From: Raj Sharma
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
We also want to thank NASPO as a partner on the webinar.┬á NASPO and NASPO Value Point are doing some great things around drones.┬á @Jason Soza┬ápointed out some guidance they laid out recently.┬á Excited to hear and learn.┬á Here’s the article Jason provided.ΓÇïΓÇï┬á┬á
http://www.naspo.org/Publications/ArtMID/8806/ArticleID/4482
——————————
Raj Sharma
Public Spend Forum
Washington DC
Original Message:
Sent: 11-02-2017 17:44
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we’ve got a great panel lined up for our webinar on How to Buy Drones, which we look forward to delivering on 11/7 at 2pm eastern. In this post, I’ll introduce each of them.
Mark L. Bathrick┬ádirects a nationwide aviation services business for the U.S. Department of the Interior. In his current role, he oversees the safe operation of over 1,200 contracted and government-owned manned and unmanned aircraft across a wide range of business applications. He has over 25 years’ experience in unmanned aircraft systems and has consulted with the highest levels of government, industry, and academia on these technologies. Prior to his current role, Mark completed a career as a decorated Navy fighter pilot, TOPGUN graduate, experimental test pilot, multiple squadron commander, and installation commander.
Rob Ehrich is the CEO and Founder of slipstream strategies, which specializes in strategic government affairs consulting in the commercial unmanned aircraft systems & drone space to help companies grow their market. He created slipstream strategies out of a passion for unmanned aircraft technology and an awareness of the need among emerging businesses in this sector for representation in Washington. A goal-oriented Government Affairs professional with 15+ years of cross-functional experience in the areas of transportation, defense, appropriations and national health security, Rob will provide webinar participants with a clearer understanding of the regulatory outlook for drones in both the public and commercial sectors.
Matthew Fritzinger is a Statewide Strategic Sourcing Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of General Services. He is currently leading the National Association of State Procurement Official’s (NASPO) Unmanned Aerial Systems Services contract team, which is comprised of procurement professionals from across the United States. When awarded, this contract will enable public agencies at all levels to procure drone services from pre-qualified vendors. Mattew has been a public procurement professional for 6 years and will share lessons learned from his experience in researching the drone marketplace and developing NASPO’s national contract.
Register today to learn from some of the best in the business. If you have questions for our panel, please share them in this discussion thread and we’ll make a point to ask them on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
Original Message:
Sent: 11-01-2017 15:58
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
Our “Learn the Market” webinar series continues on Tuesday, November 7th at 2pm eastern with a session on how to buy drones. We are fortunate to be joined by a great panel of public sector experts that we’ll introduce tomorrow. And we are particularly excited about this session because the topic is of considerable relevance right now.
For one thing, drones have been deployed with great benefit to assist in recovery operations in the wake of recent natural disasters. From surveying property damage to reseeding federal lands ravaged by wildfires to inspecting infrastructure, drones can do things that their human counterparts either can’t do, won’t do, or can do but less efficiently.
And we are aware of a nationwide solicitation for drone operators that’s about to hit the street – if you’re a buyer or a vendor, you’ll want to attend just to learn more about this.
But our primary question for November 7th is how can procurement professionals and their program office counterparts begin to think about buying drones. Should the focus be on buying the hardware, or instead on contracting for the outcomes (e.g., Drones-as-a-Service)?
It’s a bit of a leading question, and I already know how I’d answer the question, but I’m very curious to hear from our audience. Has anyone had experience buying into the drone marketplace? Our expert panel has. Share your thoughts and questions here, and make sure to register for How to Buy Drones on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
The City of Boulder, Colorado wants to deploy more drones to support municipal operations. Before they go full bore, they are gathering feedback from their citizens. Interesting!
http://www.govtech.com/products/Boulder-Eyes-Municipal-Drone-Uses-but-Asks-Citizens-How-They-Feel-First.html
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 11-08-2017 17:36
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday’s webinar on How to Buy Drones, and a special thanks to our all-star panel!
Rob Ehrich from slipstream strategies mentioned the President’s memorandum on expanding the safe use of drones and exploring further applications for the public and private sector through pilot programs, among other things. The Federal Register notice on this memorandum is available, and we’re linking to it here.
There is also a short webinar produced by the FAA called UAS Integration Pilot Program Webinar. Check it out if you want to learn more!
And if you were unable to join us yesterday (or want to review anything you might have missed), please check out a recorded version of How to Buy Drones here!
We look forward to doing more content on this topic, ideally by hosting some drone companies and having them describe to our public sector audience some of the challenges in providing services to governments. If you’re a drone company and would be interested in supporting such a session, please let me know!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
Original Message:
Sent: 11-06-2017 12:33
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
I’m getting ready to host a dry run of tomorrow’s webinar on How to Buy Drones and wanted to share some links to the resources that I’ve studied and will be sourcing for the actual discussion. These are good materials here for anyone looking to gain some market intelligence in this sector!
Skylogic Research, LLC released its 2017 Drone Market Sector Report. Its available for sale on their website, but you can read the highlights on their blog post.
UAVCoach.com has a listing of 80 Drone Companies to Watch in 2017. The list includes manufacturers, software providers, and any other entities that are a part of the drone ecosystem.
State & Local Regulation of UAS Fact Sheet – FAA Office of Chief Counsel, 12/17/15
Gartner categorizes drones as an emerging technology for 2017, and plotted them in their annual hype cycle.
Drone Industry Insights (DRONEII.com – Drone Industry Insights – Drone Market Studies & Reports) looks at the global market for drones and has several free white papers and content pieces that are relevant to this sector.
UAV Global offers a listing of 456 global drone manufacturers: List All Manufacturers
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
Original Message:
Sent: 11-03-2017 08:44
From: Raj Sharma
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
We also want to thank NASPO as a partner on the webinar.┬á NASPO and NASPO Value Point are doing some great things around drones.┬á @Jason Soza┬ápointed out some guidance they laid out recently.┬á Excited to hear and learn.┬á Here’s the article Jason provided.ΓÇïΓÇï┬á┬á
http://www.naspo.org/Publications/ArtMID/8806/ArticleID/4482
——————————
Raj Sharma
Public Spend Forum
Washington DC
Original Message:
Sent: 11-02-2017 17:44
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we’ve got a great panel lined up for our webinar on How to Buy Drones, which we look forward to delivering on 11/7 at 2pm eastern. In this post, I’ll introduce each of them.
Mark L. Bathrick┬ádirects a nationwide aviation services business for the U.S. Department of the Interior. In his current role, he oversees the safe operation of over 1,200 contracted and government-owned manned and unmanned aircraft across a wide range of business applications. He has over 25 years’ experience in unmanned aircraft systems and has consulted with the highest levels of government, industry, and academia on these technologies. Prior to his current role, Mark completed a career as a decorated Navy fighter pilot, TOPGUN graduate, experimental test pilot, multiple squadron commander, and installation commander.
Rob Ehrich is the CEO and Founder of slipstream strategies, which specializes in strategic government affairs consulting in the commercial unmanned aircraft systems & drone space to help companies grow their market. He created slipstream strategies out of a passion for unmanned aircraft technology and an awareness of the need among emerging businesses in this sector for representation in Washington. A goal-oriented Government Affairs professional with 15+ years of cross-functional experience in the areas of transportation, defense, appropriations and national health security, Rob will provide webinar participants with a clearer understanding of the regulatory outlook for drones in both the public and commercial sectors.
Matthew Fritzinger is a Statewide Strategic Sourcing Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of General Services. He is currently leading the National Association of State Procurement Official’s (NASPO) Unmanned Aerial Systems Services contract team, which is comprised of procurement professionals from across the United States. When awarded, this contract will enable public agencies at all levels to procure drone services from pre-qualified vendors. Mattew has been a public procurement professional for 6 years and will share lessons learned from his experience in researching the drone marketplace and developing NASPO’s national contract.
Register today to learn from some of the best in the business. If you have questions for our panel, please share them in this discussion thread and we’ll make a point to ask them on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
Original Message:
Sent: 11-01-2017 15:58
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
Our “Learn the Market” webinar series continues on Tuesday, November 7th at 2pm eastern with a session on how to buy drones. We are fortunate to be joined by a great panel of public sector experts that we’ll introduce tomorrow. And we are particularly excited about this session because the topic is of considerable relevance right now.
For one thing, drones have been deployed with great benefit to assist in recovery operations in the wake of recent natural disasters. From surveying property damage to reseeding federal lands ravaged by wildfires to inspecting infrastructure, drones can do things that their human counterparts either can’t do, won’t do, or can do but less efficiently.
And we are aware of a nationwide solicitation for drone operators that’s about to hit the street – if you’re a buyer or a vendor, you’ll want to attend just to learn more about this.
But our primary question for November 7th is how can procurement professionals and their program office counterparts begin to think about buying drones. Should the focus be on buying the hardware, or instead on contracting for the outcomes (e.g., Drones-as-a-Service)?
It’s a bit of a leading question, and I already know how I’d answer the question, but I’m very curious to hear from our audience. Has anyone had experience buying into the drone marketplace? Our expert panel has. Share your thoughts and questions here, and make sure to register for How to Buy Drones on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————
I’m a bit late to this discussion, and I clearly missed any answers you’ve gathered to your original query: should buyers seek equipment versus service performance outcomes? But even if the drones discussion has withered, I think the question has general value for anyone planning to buy emerging technology. The first and best way to answer it, as far as I’m concerned, is to pose it to potential suppliers during the initial rounds of RFI and market research. But be sure to ask the right question – it’s not about the firm’s capabilities; instead it’s how those capabilities have complimented their customers’ core businesses. The way I see it, the outsourcing of any operational function should be weighed against both the maturity of the internal program and the risks inherent to the new technology. (Once a path is chosen – whether it’s equipment or turnkey, a sort of “paradigm lock” sets in, and change becomes increasingly difficult.) Of course, don’t stop after analyzing the potential vendors’ responses. The total costs should be modeled: A versus B versus status quo. The first purchases or pilots, however subtle, are going to have cascading impacts on costs. It may even be wise to hire a third party (business consultant) to help model and manage the decision.
I’ve been collaborating on a review of the use of drones to inspect transmission lines, and I’m surprised at the very wide differences between potential vendors – their specialties and capabilities and the ways that they might integrate with the organization’s programs. Everyone’s trying slightly different angles. Some are great pilots; others have sophisticated drones; others provide great data. And of course there are combinations of these qualities, along with program management services and program design. Buyers have too many lots to sort! But then, I’m sure the vendors have a hard time figuring out a best business model.
——————————
Mark Nadeau
Emkhos, LLC
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 11-01-2017 15:58
From: Frank McNally
Subject: Open Thread: How do you buy drones?
Our “Learn the Market” webinar series continues on Tuesday, November 7th at 2pm eastern with a session on how to buy drones. We are fortunate to be joined by a great panel of public sector experts that we’ll introduce tomorrow. And we are particularly excited about this session because the topic is of considerable relevance right now.
For one thing, drones have been deployed with great benefit to assist in recovery operations in the wake of recent natural disasters. From surveying property damage to reseeding federal lands ravaged by wildfires to inspecting infrastructure, drones can do things that their human counterparts either can’t do, won’t do, or can do but less efficiently.
And we are aware of a nationwide solicitation for drone operators that’s about to hit the street – if you’re a buyer or a vendor, you’ll want to attend just to learn more about this.
But our primary question for November 7th is how can procurement professionals and their program office counterparts begin to think about buying drones. Should the focus be on buying the hardware, or instead on contracting for the outcomes (e.g., Drones-as-a-Service)?
It’s a bit of a leading question, and I already know how I’d answer the question, but I’m very curious to hear from our audience. Has anyone had experience buying into the drone marketplace? Our expert panel has. Share your thoughts and questions here, and make sure to register for How to Buy Drones on the 7th!
——————————
Frank McNally
Director, Learning & Content Development
——————————