Stabilizing the Mission During Disruption

Original broadcast 11/19/25

Presented by Carahsoft

The Indo-Pacific region is one of the most strategically significant and operationally complex theaters in the world. It is vast, distributed, and constantly evolving. Against that backdrop, even routine federal processes can have outsized effects on mission execution. During extended budget uncertainty and government shutdowns, those effects multiply—rippling across agencies, integrators, OEMs, and ultimately operators in the field.

For organizations that sit at the center of the public-sector technology ecosystem, such disruptions require not only agility, but stewardship. That is where Carahsoft, represented at TechNet Indo-Pacific by IC Executive Chaz Hazzan, plays a consequential role. As a major distributor that connects customers, OEMs, and value-added resellers (VARs), Carahsoft is positioned uniquely—not merely as a supplier, but as a stabilizing force during mission turbulence.

Hazzan notes that the current shutdown, one of the longest in recent memory, introduces significant strain into the federal acquisition and delivery ecosystem. While military pay remains funded, the supply chain between OEMs, resellers, and end users becomes constricted. Shipments pause. Payment cycles stall. And uncertainty spreads. In the Indo-Pacific—where logistics already stretch across thousands of miles—the impact is magnified.

The value of a company like Carahsoft is its ability to absorb that shock. Hazzan explains that the distributor’s financial flexibility allows it to extend credit terms, carry receivables longer, or bridge delays for smaller partners who might otherwise struggle to stay solvent during extended pauses in federal activity. That capability, he emphasizes, “eases the risk across the middle,” ensuring that programs can keep moving even when the machinery of government cannot.

This role is equally critical for OEMs, many of which depend on continuous throughput to maintain production schedules or support cycles. Carahsoft’s scale—representing hundreds of manufacturers and thousands of partners—allows it to maintain momentum in both directions: enabling integrators to continue work and ensuring government customers still receive essential equipment and technology once funding resumes.

But the shutdown discussion is only the entry point to a broader reality of the Indo-Pacific. The region is defined by distance, operational variability, and strategic competition. Hazzan describes the challenge bluntly: “Everything is multiplied here.” Distance affects shipping timelines, resupply processes, and even the ability to modernize aging platforms with advanced cybersecurity, cloud, and AI-enabled capabilities.

Cybersecurity remains at the heart of those modernization efforts. Zero Trust—in particular—has moved from buzzword to baseline. Hazzan emphasizes its permanence: the strategy isn’t going anywhere because the threat surface isn’t getting smaller. From weapons platforms to mobile devices to satellites, every asset must be continuously validated. “Are you who you say you are?” is no longer a helpful question—it is a mandatory posture.

Carahsoft plays a supporting role here as well. With a technology portfolio spanning security, cloud, AI, automation, and analytics, the company curates and integrates the range of capabilities required to implement Zero Trust across the Department of Defense and the defense-industrial base. It brings together multiple vendors to create defense-grade Zero Trust “cocktails,” tailored to mission needs and compliant with evolving federal frameworks.

In the Indo-Pacific, Zero Trust intersects with another foundational challenge: cooperation. The region is not only America’s largest operational theater but also its most coalition-driven. The U.S. works closely with allies such as Australia, Japan, South Korea, and others. Each country has its own systems, its own policies, and its own thresholds for information sharing. The question is no longer whether to share—it is how to share responsibly.

Hazzan highlights the nuance of this dynamic. Partners need information, but intelligence and operational security demand boundaries. “What is the calculus of sharing?” he asks. Each piece of data must be categorized not just by classification but by mission relevance, coalition sensitivity, and operational risk.

This is where modern technology becomes both a tool and a challenge. Today’s systems allow data to be stored, moved, and analyzed at unprecedented scale and speed. But they also require disciplined governance—identity management, access controls, encryption, analytics, and monitoring—to ensure that information moves appropriately between agencies, within commands, and among allies.

For Carahsoft, enabling secure cooperation is part of its ecosystem function. By integrating technologies that support Zero Trust, multi-domain operations, and cross-boundary data governance, the company helps agencies walk the delicate line between openness and protection—especially as the U.S. and its partners prepare for new forms of competition in the region.

Standing on the busy floor of TechNet Indo-Pacific, Hazzan observes the energy around him—full rooms, packed sessions, dozens of vendors offering solutions to challenges that stretch across half the globe. His message is clear: the scale of the region requires scale at every level—operations, technology, logistics, and partnership.

Carahsoft’s role is not merely to sell technology. It is to ensure continuity in moments of disruption, to support partners across the supply chain, and to help sustain mission readiness in the most demanding theater on Earth.

Key Takeaways

• Distributor-scale financing and logistics help sustain operations through shutdowns and supply-chain disruptions.

• Zero Trust is foundational to protecting systems across the Indo-Pacific’s vast operational footprint.

• Secure cooperation among allies requires advanced governance and responsible data-sharing frameworks.