The federal government spends tens of billions of dollars each year on information technology, with the lion's share going to private industry. Contractors dominate the federal IT arena, not only providing the hardware and the software, but many of the services and the manpower. In some agencies, contractors dwarf federal employees.

Federal Computer Week has compiled a list of companies that it says represent the leading edge of technology and business trends, and that have a big impact throughout the government. The biggest, by far, is Lockheed Martin, which had nearly $15 billion in government IT contracts in 2008. A great deal of its work is with the Defense Department. In the past two years, it has expanded its expertise by adding mission readiness, global infrastructure support, peacekeeping and disaster response into its portfolio.

Deloitte and Touche, the accounting and consulting firm, this year hired former Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) as a director in its federal business unit, and then acquired BearingPoint for $350 million. This acquisition more than doubled Deloitte's federal business, and the company has made clear that it wants to be a major player in the government market.

A new entrant into the U.S. market is Cobham, a British company that gained significant contracting work in the intelligence and missile defense market with its acquisition of Sparta. Other key players in the IT field include Vangent, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics, Science Applications International Corp., Acquisition Solutions, Pragmatics, TASC, and the merged EDS and HP. The stakes are a high for EDS and its parent with the follow-on contract to the Navy Marine Corps Intranet looming.

No matter what agency you work for, chances are that it connects directly or indirectly with private companies handling some of the biggest IT contracts and initiatives.

To read more about federal IT and these companies:
- see this Federal Computer Week article