What is the National Security Agency PISA program?

The PISA program is a National Security Agency (NSA) small business program that allocates security clearances (three business development, two technical clearances) to small businesses before a contract is awarded. The PISA program has recently been opened to mid sized and large businesses. The PISA program offers a solution that many vendors and service providers face when attempting to market to the National Security Agency: Clearances are required in order to find contracts and clearances will not be granted unless the company has a contract.

The key PISA requirement is the invitation from an agency technical director that qualifies the technical competence

Involvement in the PISA program will allow employees to work in the agency with a TS/SCI clearance during the NSA required polygraph testing period.

This PISA program encourages small businesses to more aggressively market NSA. Combined with an aggressive business development effotrs, PISA positions a company for expansion of its NSA business.

Basic Marketing Themes

It’s not technology that wins business, it’s the people. You must get government to trust you. It often takes learning what Agencies want and then feeding it back to them.

Industry must find an Agency’s “change agents.” Rank is not important. In many cases even the government doesn’t know who the right person to talk to is.

To win business, industry and government teams must build trust strong enough to be able to ignore outside influences. Industry knows products, but not the customer.

Cold calls won’t work.