Mark Testoni

SAP NS2 CEO Mark Testoni Named to 2021 Wash100 for His Public-Private Tech Collaboration Push in Cybersecurity Landscape

Executive Mosaic is pleased to announce Mark Testoni, CEO of SAP National Security Services, as an inductee into the 2021 edition of the Wash100 for advocating government and industry partnerships to help organizations protect infrastructure with the use of commercial technology.

This represents the sixth Wash100 selection for Testoni. He led the formation of SAP NS2 in April 2012 by melding SAP’s former Government Support and Services business with federal elements of Sybase, which the German software conglomerate acquired in 2011.

As SAP NS2 chief executive, he oversees the enterprise technology provider’s management, consulting, sales, go-to-market strategy and product support functions in the national security arena.

In a January 2020 interview with Dark Reading, Testoni said he believes the private sector needs to extend its security culture at the C-suite and board management levels as nation-state actors continue to find potential attack opportunities.

“I think we have to evolve the debate from whether we do cyber in organizations to how we can create value from it,” he told the publication.

Also early last year, Fox Business spoke to Testoni about the risk of Iran’s cyber activity and he warned that Iranian threat actors may target big agencies or companies that have large customer bases if they wanted to launch a motivation-based attack. He said at the time that patching systems could help businesses defend against security threats.

He said in a separate Q&A with TechTarget the public sector has been adopting cloud computing platforms over the past few years and such technology is working to help organizations secure exchange of digitized information.

“Cloud architecture capability is alive and well in the government, including in the most sensitive areas for business,” Testoni said in June.

The SAP NS2 CEO pointed to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as a wake-up call for the government to rethink legacy practices for classifying data, granting security clearances and managing sensitive compartmented information facilities.

He urged public and private sector organizations to explore operational functions that can transition to remote work environments while ensuring the national security workforce protects sensitive data.

“Embracing this new reality can be key to ensuring our public and private sectors are as prepared as possible to defend America. If we fail to step up to this challenge, we run the risk of falling behind our adversaries, possibly for good,” Testoni wrote in an August opinion piece for FedScoop.

A November SearchSecurity report quoted him as saying the heightened awareness about election security drove collaborative efforts between federal and state agencies to protect voting systems.

“Education is an important aspect to security; it’s not all technology, it’s behavior patterns,” he told the publication.

Under Testoni’s leadership, SAP NS2 pledged to support virtual education for students in need amid the global health crisis. The SAP subsidiary made a $20,000 donation to the Foundation for Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia last year to help FCPS buy distance learning equipment and supplies.

“Mark has built an impressive organization. Mark and his organization are consistently recognized for their contributions to the overall security of our nation and our government,” said Jim Garrettson, founder and CEO of Executive Mosaic. “He is truly a deserving winner.”

Executive Mosaic congratulates Mark Testoni and the SAP NS2 team for their selection to receive this award.

About The Wash100

This year represents our eighth annual Wash100 Award selection. The Wash100 is the premier group of private and public sector leaders selected by Executive Mosaic’s organizational and editorial leadership as the most influential leaders in the GovCon sector. These leaders demonstrate skills in leadership, innovation, achievement and vision.

Visit theWash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2021 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2021.