It’s been less than two months since Ted Davies assumed the ranks as president of Unisys Federal Systems, and already his vision is in sharp focus. “I think we are going to get more excitement in the hallways here — and I think the industry is going to see that as well,” says Davies. Recently Davies sat down with us to discuss these and other issues, including one that’s on everyone’s mind: what the change in administration will mean for Unisys and other companies within the government contracting community.

Tell us some of your new priorities and responsibilities.

Ted Davies: Since becoming president of Unisys Federal Systems barely two months ago, my focus has been on continuing to build a world-class team and streamlining what we do. It’s a complex business, so the easier that I can make it for folks to do their jobs, the better we are going to do.  That’s what I’m working on right now.

How did your previous job as vice president of civilian agencies help prepare you?

Ted Davies: In the past, I’ve done a lot of work in the defense field, and I’ve been the leader for the civilian marketplace at Unisys for the past five years.  Also when I was a partner at Booz Allen I managed a horizontal team. So I am familiar with leading services that cut across client domains, because I’ve seen both sides of this equation.  That is the model that I’m trying to build here — leveragability of solutions across marketplaces combined with deep client domain knowledge.

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Dave McQueeney has been the Chief Technology Officer for IBM’s Federal Government business since June of 2004.  In that time, he’s developed his own list of dos and don’ts for being a top CTO. Recently, McQueeney sat down with ExecutiveBiz to offer up several of his tips. Among them: Surround yourself with the best technical people. Stay connected to a broader research community. Don’t just view yourself as a techie; be a bridge between the technical and business worlds. In the following Q&A, McQueeney unpacks these and other tips, and lets us in on a few book picks that can also enrich your role as CTO.

Your involvement with IBM goes back to the ‘80s — a long time.

Dave McQueeney: Yes, I started in June of 1988, right out of grad school.  So if you sum it up I’ve been 20 years at IBM, 10 of which were at IBM Research and the other 10 were in the operating units. I have been the Chief Technology Officer for IBM’s Federal Government business since June of 2004.

You oversee 70 engineers and system architects — what does it take to be a good CTO?

Dave McQueeney: To be a good CTO, you have to work on three things. First, you have to have the best technical people.  You have to create an environment that is exciting and vibrant. Techies are heat seekers … If you are successful creating this environment, the best folks will find you.  Once you attract them, of course you need to look after them. You have to continually challenge them with problems that really get them excited from both a technical and impact point of view.  You have to help them move “up the ladder” in their jobs, growing into bigger, more significant responsibilities.  Finally, you have to keep the organization’s skills up-to-date. You have to be concerned about whether you have the right technical resources to solve the business or the mission problem that you face, especially as that mission changes.

So it’s all about the people; you get the right people, you deploy them in the right way, you help them advance their careers and you make sure the mix of people is right for the problem you are trying to solve.

Second: You are a “C-level executive,” the CTO of an organization. That organization, whether it is government or commercial, is going to look to you to make or advise on the most important policy decisions. To stay sharp, you have to keep up with journals, the broader research community, and with government and other industry parties.  Said another way, innovation is moving faster and faster and you need to stay strongly connected inside and outside of your organization to be current.

You are expected to make reasoned judgments about policies the organization will set where the fundamental decision is technically-based. Your senior colleagues are going to expect you to have the judgment to answer technical questions on behalf of the organization.

Third: You can’t just be a techie. The CTO has to be the bridge between the business world — or the mission world, as it’s called in the government — and the technical world.  You have to provide advice such as “You haven’t thought of this because you are mission expert, not a technical expert, but here is a new way to address your mission challenges in a completely different, and fundamentally more effective way.” Any good CTO is constantly working to get a deeper understanding of his or her mission area, not just the technology.
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Tom Grissen has always designed his life around things he’s passionate about — and identity assurance is one of them. “To be successful, I fundamentally believe you must be energized,” says Grissen. “I have led thousands of staff in large divisions of multi-billion dollar companies, turned around struggling businesses, and most recently with Daon, have taken an early stage company to one that has customers on five continents.”  In the following Q&A, Grissen discusses what attracted him to the Reston-based company — “I saw an extremely talented staff, people willing to make bold decisions with the strength and stamina to be leaders rather than followers,” he says — plus he fills us in on the latest trends in identity assurance.

What are some of the major vertical markets you are in right now?

Tom Grissen: Today, our software technology powers national security systems in the US, Japan, Australia and the EU.   From this success, we have moved into regulated industries (i.e., aviation), where we have architected and our software powers systems such as US Registered Traveler and the nations clearinghouse for biometric background checks for 100 percent of the aviation industries in the US.  It’s starting to expand into non-government sectors such as banking and health care.  Identity assurance will shift to be consumer led and become ubiquitous across the government vertical in every region of the world.  Daon, from its inception, was designed to power these global systems.
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As senior vice president for corporate development at Alion Science and Technology, a McLean, Va.- based technology solutions company, Steve Kimmel is responsible for overseeing the company’s organic growth, strategic planning and acquisitions. In the following Q&A, Kimmel shares his top priorities for the coming year and his take on what’s needed to be a successful business development executive.

What are your top priorities for the coming year?

Steve Kimmel: Planning for and adjusting to the change in administration’s national security priorities followed by remaining competitive in our current market space and lastly penetrating one to two new markets.

What’s the greatest challenge you face in either the short and long term?

Steve Kimmel: My personal challenge is to maintain an objective understanding of the priorities associated with Alion’s primary customer — the federal government — especially since such priorities effect Alion’s ability to provide operationally effective, technology-based solutions.
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Keith Fimian, who’s running as the successor to Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA-11th District), got his business education firsthand when he launched U.S. Inspect 21 years ago. Today the company is the largest property inspection company in the United States. In an exclusive interview with ExecutiveBiz, Fimian talks about his plans to continue Davis’s legacy of supporting government contracting in the Northern Virginia area.

Tell us about your background and why you’re running for Congress.

Keith Fimian: I am a CPA who worked with the international accounting firm KPMG for seven years.  I was promoted to manager a year early and senior manager a year early and did a rotation in the firm’s executive offices in New York City.  I like numbers — I understand numbers — but after New York I didn’t love the work any longer so I started my own company 21 years ago.

My days in public accounting gave me the foundation to get that company off the ground.  Because of my background, I was very aware of what was important and what was not — the things we had to keep our eye on and the things we didn’t.  Today, my company, U.S. Inspect, is the largest property inspection company in the United States.

Having a business background is indispensable for serving effectively in government today.  Our nation faces big challenges and we would accomplish far more if we had more men and women with business backgrounds in Congress.
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For nearly 15 years, we’ve known him as a friend to the Washington, DC area business community. In that time, Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA-11th District) has led one reform after another of the federal government’s procurement system and made Northern Virginia a boomtown for high-tech government contractors. By bringing jobs to the area, saving taxpayers money and fueling job growth in Northern Virginia, Davis has become a champion leader for government contractors. In just a few short months, Davis will step down from his congressional seat — and is supporting Keith Fimian as his successor. In an exclusive interview, Davis tells us why the business community will find a friend in Fimian, too.

You’ve been a great friend to the government contracting community. Can you provide any insight as to why Keith Fimian would also be a strong supporter?

Rep. Davis: He started his own business. Keith has built the business from scratch, he had to make payroll, he understands what the private economy is like. He has the natural instincts of anybody in government.

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As the CEO of Icx, a high-tech security company based in Arlington, Hans Kobler is always on the lookout for new security threats — and ways to meet them head-on. “We focus on building the world’s best sensors, integrating them and offering complete solutions to our customers in the military, in homeland security and in the commercial security market,” says Kobler. In the following Q&A, Kobler discusses his company’s growth strategy — an impressive 800-plus person employee base, and a revenue chart that’s projected to climb from $170 to $180 million in sales this year. 

What’s your biggest challenge in business?

Hans Kobler: Nothing unusual, all the things that come along with a fast-growing business. We at ICx have a fantastic group of developers and technologists.  We have a good handful of products that have a lot of traction right now, growing at 100 percent-plus a year, and we keep introducing new products into the pipeline.  With the high growth of our existing products and the steady addition of new products, we have a lot of growth to deal with, roughly 30 percent-plus organically.  That is sometimes a challenge.  Dealing with the government is also a challenge at times because the business there is lumpy. The big programs get started and they get stopped, and funding gets shifted around.  That, at times, poses challenges, but not so much because we are so diversified.

We have probably the broadest technology footprint in the industry. This means that when the explosives market slows down, perhaps radiation or another area picks up.  In 2002 everyone was worried about anthrax, about a bio/chemical attack, and now it is six years later without an incident so we are experiencing a little bit of the “out of mind, out of sight” syndrome.  These are the regular challenges of government business today.  The good news is that when I look at the turmoil in the stock market – the low dollar, sky-high gas prices and a troubled financial market – security is one of those safe havens. Whatever happens – if it’s the Democrats or the Republicans who end up in the White House – people will want to make sure the country is safe.  So they will have to spend money.  The security industry, whether we like the state of the world or not, is a good place for investors.

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It’s his second “exciting” year at Convergys, and Paul Colangelo already has a lot to show for it. By year one, his team had established Convergys Government Solutions as a leader in relationship management through a multi-channel contact centers solutions. By year two, the U.S. General Services Administration named Convergys a preferred contact center solutions provider. Recently Colangelo sat down with ExecutiveBiz to tell us how Convergys has reached this and other milestones — and what’s next on the horizon.

Tell us about your current role as vice president of government solutions — what are some of your goals?

Paul Colangelo: I’m responsible for overall success of Convergys’ Government Solutions business and the go to market strategy for our operations to include our government programs, operational performance and client satisfaction. Regardless of the agency’s mission—healthcare, entitlement, tax and revenue, Homeland Security or simple information dissemination—our ultimate goal is to help government agencies better serve the citizens whose quality of life is directly impacted by their agency’s operation.

What goals have you set as a preferred contact center solutions provider?

Paul Colangelo: Our goal is to provide effective relationship management solutions for federal agencies that blend agent-served and automated services, whether through IVR/Speech, self-service (web, chat) or contact center staffing solutions.
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After publishing 17 books on business growth and strategy over nearly 20 years, Andrew Sherman had a revelation. “It occurred to me that I had been accumulating a lot of thoughts about personal growth — development in life and rules of engagement in society,” says Sherman, a partner in the corporate and finance practice at the DC-based law firm Dickstein Shapiro. That revelation led to the publication of Sherman’s newly released book, Road Rules: Be the Truck, Not the Squirrel. The theme of the book is simple yet profound: There are 12 rules for navigating the road of life. In the following Q&A, Sherman takes us on a journey through some of his favorite road rules and lessons learned along way.

Who’s your target readership?

Andrew Sherman: For the first time in my life I’m writing for the general audience — anybody you would see on the street, anybody you would find behind the wheel of a car. Many successful books about life lessons tie back to things that we can all relate to in life.  Certainly we can all relate to driving — the book talks about many of frustrations, as well as the pleasures, of driving.

Could you share one of your favorite road rules?

Andrew Sherman: One of my favorites is “Share the Road” — that’s Road Rule number two.  “Share the Road” is a reminder that the road does not belong to any one of us, we need to conduct ourselves in a fashion that is sensitive to other drivers on the road of life.  So many of us get up in the morning and seem to think that the highway belongs to them both literally and figuratively in the way that they drive.  That is also probably reflective of how they are living their lives; not being cognizant of the needs of other drivers on the road — the needs of your fellow employees, the needs of your strategic partners, the needs of your family members.

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As the vice president of Global Enterprise Solutions, Paul Bates oversees an organization of about 1,400 employees who provide professional services to the government.  “We provide a full array of services including everything from engineering to hands and feet on the street — whatever our customers need,” says Bates, who also counts customers in the commercial sphere. In the following Q&A, Bates tells us what’s new at Verizon Business, the latest trends in cyber security, and what the acquisition landscape looks like over the coming year.

What’s new in your business unit that most people wouldn’t know?

Paul Bates: Verizon Business is much more than just pipes.  We’re providing professional services to extend throughout a customer’s network rather than simply offering a private line or a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network as we did before.  Today, we also deliver more security services and professional services that are near the network, but not necessarily tied to the network, such as Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and information assurance.

What hot trends will impact your customers over the next 12 to 18 months?

Paul Bates: I think, across the board, and including cyber security, how customers deal with information assurance, and how they set up SOA plans.  I also think that the contracting vehicles are changing, and we are starting to see consolidated, larger contracts rather than smaller ones.  Additionally, customers are moving away from the traditional level-of-effort (LOE) contracts and toward more performance-oriented contracts.

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