Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) is rapidly but surely reaching a turning point in its life. The company needs to choose whether it is going to accept the fact that it is going to lose a great deal of the business as a consequence of the Department of Defense reducing its budget or if it is going to change the way it operates by focusing on providing products and services to the masses. The second option, although riskier, is more likely to bring benefits in the long run. Through implementing strategies that are going to make it possible for it to get involved in other industries, the company is more probable to experience success. SAIC's current competition holds a significant advantage through the fact that it does not depend on a single customer. Even with this, companies such as HP and IBM lack the expertise that SAIC has in the defense industry. With more and more security companies turning their attention to using professional strategies, SAIC can step in and provide these respective companies with the assistance they need in order to come up with efficient responses to problems traditionally solved only by professional governmental agents.

SAIC needs to invest a great deal of resources in...

Through implementing educational programs meant to assist current employees in being able to adapt to the significant change about to come, the company as a whole can deal with the transformation process more efficiently.
Risks are especially high if SAIC is going to take on a more sympathetic attitude with regard to the private sector. The company is likely to lose money in the short run, considering that it needs to recover a lot of terrain in order to play in the same division as its competition. Similar companies have the advantage because they tend to focus on providing products and services to a wider range of people.

What some people perceive as being SAIC's main disadvantage can actually be used to the institution's own advantage, taking into account the fact that society in general seems to head toward a point where security becomes more personal and thus more widely required. Ranging from next generation security cameras to providing tools making it easier for security personnel to train, SAIC is likely to have the resources needed for it to succeed in the…