While everyone in the IT world “knows” that cyber projects are priority one, it turns out than not everyone lives in the IT world.  Similarly, the benefits of cloud solutions are thought to be well-understood, but some people just prefer a sunny day.  Regardless of the solution, contractors should assume that their federal customers aren’t as familiar with it as they are.  Customers speak a language different from yours and it is up to you to translate.  Do as much of the ROI-proving work as possible to give yourself and your customer the best chance for success.  You help yourself by helping your client make the easy case.  Need proof?  A recent survey of over 300 federal officials found that fully 40% of respondents were unable to say whether implemented cloud solutions had any impact on their organization.  That’s not just bad news for cloud companies, but for any contractor who assumes that their client knows what their getting.  Your firm needs to make sure that benefits of your solution, and why it’s better than a competitor’s, are immediately recognizable to the “person on the street” so that your customer will have a clearer understanding of how you’re truly helping them solve a problem.