When the Environment Changes, You Change with It

GDIT Partners with Collaboration Software Provider to Enable Remote Working within the DoD

Teleworking is, seemingly, going to be the norm for quite some time for those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to work from home – bringing with it a host of security challenges. Working remotely within a Department of Defense (DoD) environment multiplies those challenges exponentially.

This is precisely why GDIT partnered with the secure collaboration software company, Wickr. Wickr users have access to end-to-end encrypted chat/text, video and file-sharing capabilities. They can use these capabilities on multiple device types (including NIPRNET computers, government or personal mobile devices, or personal tablets, laptops or PCs), regardless of the devices’ operating systems.

Together, Wickr and GDIT are providing the support necessary to facilitate working from home for the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM). In a nutshell, the SOCOM version, Wickr RAM
(Recall, Alert Messaging) provides the enterprise IT and managed services and GDIT provides helpdesk support and cybersecurity services.

The partnership means that, within just this one agency, we can enable an 80,000-person workforce to work remotely and securely, increasing by 40-fold the number of SOCOM staff members who can work this way. Given the forecasts of a second wave of coronavirus in the fall, and the anticipated second-peak events presently, having the Wickr-GDIT solution in place means SOCOM’s operations will be minimally impacted, if at all.

Dr. Lisa Costas, USSOCOM CTO, shared WICKR during the recent virtual SOFIC event as an example of rapid collaboration between government, industry and AFSOC to resolve the pressing issue of a workable remote workplace for the command.

As our “new normal” just becomes “normal,” GDIT will continue to seek out and facilitate partnerships like this to ensure we can remain a mission-critical partner to our DoD customers and beyond.