The competitive landscape for the Federal IT and Consulting sector is dynamic, with companies entering and exiting every day for a range of reasons. A goal for any Government and GovCon leader is to identify, establish relationships with, and support firms, and their respective leaders, which are positioned to serve as the next generation of highly successful GovCon small businesses.
Every other week, we will highlight a handful of very small, but rapidly emerging businesses that are NEW (have been formed and/or launched in the last 30 months), and that should be on your radar as both a potential partner and competitor.
This week we cover five different emerging IT consulting companies and service-disabled Veteran-owned businesses, four of which are guided by former Department of Veterans Affairs leaders, and one other which… well the other stands out for the experience and partnerships they are already forming. All are making big investments, building their teams, and positioning for success both in support of the Department of Veterans Affairs and across the broader Federal sector.
RC4Vets
Led by Founder and CEO Warren Beck, who brings perspective gained as a long-time IT Project Manager and certified Contract Officer Representative with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, this certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) can lay claim to past performance supporting USDA, USPTO, and VA and a wide range of IT services including Application/Systems Development, Management Consulting, Agile Application Engineering, Cloud Services, Digital Transformation, Infrastructure Management and Production/Operations Support, Business Intelligence & Data Warehousing, PMO Services, Cyber Security, QA Services and Web Applications.
In a short period of time, this San Antonio based firm, who maintains a Center of Excellence located in Chantilly, VA, has managed to add some senior executive level talent to the team, to include EVP Vijay Raghavan and CTO Sanad Pushpakaran, both of whom bring their own sets of experience as Co-Founders of a successful innovative technology management consulting firm and contractor supporting numerous clients, to include several projects at VA. With so many major SDVOSB set-aside contracts expected to be competed in the months ahead, this consultancy will be a top target for companies looking to align and partner (as a Prime and key sub) in the years ahead.
zCore Group
When we say this CVE-verified SDVOSB is new, we mean really new. Launched in 2022, the LinkedIn page for this fast-growing team was published just last month. Founded by Marine Combat Veteran Erick Zenteno, the new CEO for this Business Consulting, Software Development, and IT Management Consulting Firm spent more than 7 years with the Department of Veterans of Affairs in support of the Office of Strategic Planning and driving Fraud Prevention Services within the Office of Financial Management.
If you think we are putting the cart before the horse drawing your attention to this new company, it is worth noting that they have made several key hires already, to include adding a now former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisitions Program Management Officer (Office of Integrated Veteran Care) and a new Director of Engineering and Marine Corp Veteran who spent the last decade working as a Polyglot Software Engineer, Engineering Manager, and contractor at the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, and as CTO/Head of Engineering for several startup ventures. #innovation
Intelligence Systems
Led by CEO David Upham, who brings perspective gained over nearly a decade in progressively responsible roles within VA supporting Compliance and Privacy efforts and providing Integration and implementation oversight for revenue systems for VA Community Care, as well as recent industry experience as an IT leader supporting one of the most successful T4NG Primes, this SDVOSB is already making connections and inroads.
Bolstered by the experience of President and COO Raju Pentiboyina whose more than 25 years of experience working with federal agencies and commercial partners includes time with some of the biggest federal health players in town, it doesn’t take much digging to see the work this team is already active in at VA. Just a quick scan shows them working with VA product line leaders, their business customers, and technical consultants to develop strategies to optimize current and future IT investments and solutions, and supporting the Veterans Data Integration and Federation Enterprise Platform (VDIP-EP). Those in the know will recall this is the platform that ensures integrated and federated data for the Veterans Health Administration as they replace and modernize their legacy Electronic Health Record (EHR). Can you see the potential here? We thought so.
Resua AI
Another just-founded company, SDVOSB Resua lays claim to strong connections in the Federal government and industry, and in the field of data science and emerging technologies. CEO David Hook worked within the Department of Veterans Affairs for 13 years, most recently collaborating on large scale R&D initiatives and working with academic partners, conducting AI Tech Sprints, and fostering a community of AI professionals at the agency. He also spent time responsible for the management of data obtained from the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture and other computer applications related to the workload and the automation of Financial Management Service tasks within the service, facility and region.
This alone may not serve as an indicator that this company is one to watch, but a team that has grown to at least 6 over the past year, that we could identify, suggests this team is ripe and ready to leverage its experience and to take its place as a coveted partner in an otherwise competitive marketplace.
And the One to Grow On?
Latitude IT Solutions
When a company lists 2022 as its founding date, and when that company is already establishing key teaming partnerships with long-standing Primes supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs, and when the CEO of that company brings direct experience working for a recently acquired and long-standing VA partner, the ands start to add up.
Led by President and CEO Zachary Mantyla, SDVOSB Latitude IT Solutions lists a growing set of partners that cut across the Federal health space and include some key recognizable VA partners. Add Zach’s own personal experience which includes serving as a Systems Engineer and Chief Systems Architect supporting VA efforts, and it is easy to see why this IT Engineering Firm, focused on DevSecOps and cloud computing, is making quick headway already within DHS, DOD and VA. This One may be a standout of the group in that Zach is the lone lead that has not directly worked within VA, but the knowledge he brings and the partnerships he is already establishing means this hard driving CEO and Latitude IT are #onetowatch.
Know a company we should spotlight? Do you lead or work for a company that is on the move? Contact us below and let us know.
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