Though the military needs the private sector's help in some areas of IT, in other ways it's far ahead of corporate organizations. For example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which has a budget of about $2 billion, built some of the technology that underpins the Internet.

"Arguably, the IT world is moving a little faster than the military can anticipate," said Ray Bjorklund, an analyst at Federal Sources Inc. in McLean, Va. The government is often tied down by lengthy budget cycles that require two to three years of planning.

Bjorklund said he sees the W2COG effort as being similar to open-source initiatives that focus on developer integration. "If this consortium is a way of jump-starting collaboration among industries, then great -- it's a great tool," he said.