INDUSTRY INTERVIEW: Qwest Government Services

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW



Interview with
Diana Gowen
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Qwest Government Services
 

Diana Gowen is the senior vice president and general manager of Qwest Government Services, which is based in Arlington, Va. Gowen oversees the sales and marketing efforts of Qwest’s solutions for its federal government customers, which include civilian, defense and intelligence agencies.

Under Gowen’s leadership, Qwest was selected by the General Services Administration as one of just three carriers for the highly coveted Networx Universal contract. Also, Qwest is one of only five carriers on the companion Networx Enterprise contract. The combined value of the Networx program is potentially $68 billion over the next ten years.

These contracts add to other significant federal business that Qwest has won during Gowen’s tenure, including the DISN Access Transport Services (DATS) contract. Qwest supports all aspects of the Department of Defense with a comprehensive offering of voice, data, managed and Internet solutions through direct government contracting and subcontracting via prime contractors.

Q: How is Qwest positioned to meet the demands of DoD, with its huge infrastructure and important critical mission?

A: Qwest offers the combined expertise of a local exchange carrier, long-distance carrier and government contractor, which allows us to quickly identify and apply the appropriate skill set needed in any situation. In addition, we are a leader in offering new technologies to all federal customers, whether they are at civilian, intelligence or defense agencies.

Our “Spirit of Service” mantra, along with a nimble corporate architecture, allows us to act swiftly and appropriately with the required knowledge and talent. Qwest Government Services combines these traits with our established program management processes and procedures, enabling us to meet the specific needs of each federal customer.

Q: Qwest was awarded part of the DATS contract in 2006. What role will it play for DISA?

A: The Defense Information Systems Agency [DISA] awarded the DATS contract in late 2006 to Qwest and two other companies to support the Global Information Grid.

Qwest provides dedicated private line services to and from a variety of military installations in the Midwest and West. In addition, we can equip DISA with specialized equipment, including routers and multiplexers. We have created a Web portal that makes pricing, ordering and service delivery simpler, and that is a new way of doing business for DISA.

It is a 10-year contract and has a very high ceiling, potentially $3 billion, to accommodate the military’s ever-increasing demand for high-capacity bandwidth.

Q: What is distinctive about Qwest’s private line offering?

A: With Qwest’s Private Line Service (PLS), DISA has dedicated duplex transmission connectivity between two or more designated end points. Qwest PLS provides a managed, fully interoperable and scalable suite of services. It also utilizes four fiber SONET bi-directional line-switched ring networks to provide a highly reliable transport from sub-DS0 up through OC-192.

Qwest PLS seamlessly supports a variety of protocols, including ATM, frame relay, IP and ethernet through multi-protocol layered switching and then delivers these services transparently from end to end.

This way we are providing peace of mind that all connections are totally and completely dedicated to DISA, so there is no contention for bandwidth.

Also, the chance for hacking is nearly eliminated because any connection must be made physically, and intrusions are instantly detected by Qwest’s Network Operations Center.

Q: What other services does Qwest offer the defense community to help meet its communications needs?

A: We have an array of offerings, including information services engineering and implementation, operations and maintenance, and assurance and recovery.

Qwest Technical Services group applies DoD and industry standards as best practices in architectural design and implementation of information systems. Our experience and expertise cover most aspects of the information technology field, including nationwide and local area fiber backbone networks and information systems equipment.

Qwest defines operations as the ability to monitor, maintain, protect, restore and provision the operational network. We define maintenance as the ability to prevent and remediate the network infrastructure discrepancies that adversely impact the reliability of deployed facilities, elements and services. Because we offer a combination of operations and maintenance capabilities, it provides customers with Tier I, II and III technical assistance on a 24x7 basis for the resolution of network and service issues.

Qwest can provide the appropriate secure and reliable products and services to help DoD meet its information security, assurance and recovery requirements, whether it is for running a departmental or private network, intranet/extranet, multimedia or e-commerce application.

Qwest’s legacy of providing communications services to the federal government started more than 100 years ago when it was part of the Bell System.

Today, we serve more than 50 civilian, military and intelligence agencies across the nation and around the world through DATS, Networx and other federal contracts. ♦