Deltek announced the release of its 14th annual Deltek Clarity Government Contracting Industry Study. The study is designed to identify industry performance benchmarks, impactful market conditions and the current market outlook, including specific analysis of top challenges impacting business development, project & risk management, finance & financial compliance, manufacturing, contract management &procurement, human capital management and information technology& security professionals.
Every year, Deltek analyzes survey responses from hundreds of government contracting leaders on their previous year’s performance, uncovering insights on the entire government contracting market. The resulting report is a unique and trusted resource that helps performance-minded businesses identify areas to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness, help set business goals, inform business development strategy and better understand how they compare to their competition.
This year, more than 700 government contractors responded to the survey, which comes at a key inflection point as government contracting firms are facing ongoing supply chain challenges, economic inflation and more. Despite these challenges, 88% of businesses reported revenue growth as the same or higher in 2022 and have developed strategies and tools to continue moving forward optimistically into 2023 with 93% reporting same or higher expected revenue. The Government Contractor Confidence Index (GCCI) calculated within the report also reflects this upward trend, increasing 1.6% from 2022, showing positive signs for recovery to – and even exceeding – pre-pandemic levels.
Several key themes arose from the survey that are applicable across a variety of government contracting sectors, including:
- Positive growth and revenue outlook:49% of respondents reported increasing government sales revenue in 2022 while more than half expect increasing government sales revenue in 2023. 57% of respondents report the number of their overall federal contracts increasing.
- Cybersecurity investment: Cybersecurity tops the list of tech investment for government contractors, with 68% of respondents naming it a top concern for their IT teams.
- Small business vulnerability: Small businesses share the overall positive outlook found among respondents but are lagging larger competitors when it comes to growth and profit margins. Only 37% of self-reported small businesses reported growth in government contracts within the last year, compared to 49% overall and 58% of the largest companies.
- Internal process optimization: Business development challenges, such as a lack of face-to-face opportunities with decision makers, along with increased competition, have led respondents to focus on optimizing processes, specifically improving sales processes and effectiveness.
- Labor market challenges:37% of respondents note that labor costs are seen as the most significant driver impacting their companies’ business, with these costs being further compounded by inflation and a tightening market for talent.
Kevin Plexico, Senior Vice President of Information Solutions at Deltek commented, “This year, we found an optimistic outlook for increased government sales revenue and win rates in 2023, and the expectation to get back to, and possibly even exceed, pre-pandemic successes. The challenges companies are facing primarily relate to the labor markets, including shrinking headcounts and wage inflation making it difficult to deliver the best value on contracts, along with ongoing obstacles presented by evolving compliance requirements.”
The full results are now available in the 2023 Deltek Clarity Government Contracting Industry Report. Watch this Clarity webinar to learn more about the industry market study.
