Are you trying to learn the best way to partner with the large prime contractors? Well check out this year’s National Small Business Week. It’s an event hosted by the SBA focused exclusively on small business. Come hear Shiv Krishnan, President & CEO of INDUS Corporation, along with other experts talk about the “Secrets of Building Alliance Partnerships with Prime Contractors” and network with policy makers as well as successful small business executives on April 23^rd at the Mandarin Hotel in Washington DC.

The event will also offer sessions on energy, healthcare, international business, and more. More than 100 Small Businesses of the Year from each state will be honored, with the announcement of the National Small Business Person of the Year. Additional awards will be given for disaster recovery, federal procurement, lending, and entrepreneurial development.

Click Here to register and learn more about the event. There is no cost to attend the event.

In 2006 Anteon, one of the area’s largest government contractors, was sold to General Dynamics for $2.1 billion. The transaction marked the successful culmination of a stratospheric growth story for the Anteon management team, which had guided the contractor from a $100 million company to the $2 billion mark in a decade’s time.

While Anteon began a new chapter as General Dynamics, principals of its management team also decided it was time to turn the page. Anteon President and CEO Joseph Kampf, Executive VP of Technology Seymour L. Moskowitz, Executive VP of Corporate Development Mark Heilman, VP of Corporate Development Gerald Dorros, and Senior VP Roger Gurner all decided to move on.

On the heels of the transaction, each was certainly in a financial position to retire after long and accomplished careers in the industry if so desired. But this was a uniquely tight-knit management team, and it didn’t take long for the group to decide it wasn’t ready to break out the golf clubs just yet – nor was it ready to sever a working relationship that for some traced back more than 20 years.

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I’d like to consider myself fairly web-savvy. I subscribe to RSS feeds, use social bookmark sites, leverage Facebook and LinkedIn for professional purposes. And yet, attempting to send out a conference call meeting request from my Apple Mail program to clients with Microsoft Outlook proved maddening.

After banging my head against a wall for nearly an hour I thought that the issue was finally licked and my conference call request was executed. But when a few hours passed and I did not receive any confirmations there were two possible explanations: 1) proposing a call to discuss the rise and fall of Britney Spears was not generating much interest or, more likely, 2) the intended recipients never received the conference call invite.

It turned out that the latter was true. One person with Outlook indicated that the formatting was so messed up she could not even figure out how to reply. Others never received the invite altogether.

From executives at billion dollar firms to small business owners such as myself, there is hope when it comes to streamlining the process for scheduling conference calls. An emerging crop of platform agnostic, web 2.0 software applications that allow professionals to schedule calls with unlimited participants across multiple email programs. One such program that I’ve been testing out is Setup A Call.

Setup A Call takes an “evite” approach to scheduling with a social media twist. Once you register for a free account, you can use the service to send out conference call requests from any email client to any email client. The capabilities extend beyond the traditional programs, letting the scheduler send out requests for multiple dates, and the recipient can then provide his or her availability for each option.

Most compelling is the profile page that I can access once registering. On this page, I can view my pending calls and participants, view everyone in my network (i.e. - those who have participated in calls), and maintain a list of contacts for future calls. Early tests of the service have been flawless, and the user interface is simple and functional.

As Apple and open source platforms become more ubiquitous in the workplace, the need for platform agnostic tools like Setup A Call will become even more critical for effective collaboration with colleagues, partners and clients. And for professionals who have experienced similar pains to the ones I have endured with scheduling calls and meetings, innovation in this area is welcome news.

When Teresa Carlson, General Manager of Microsoft Federal Civilian Government and International Global Organizations, was asked to Chair the Fire and Ice Ball she jumped at the opportunity. Teresa was first introduced to the American Red Cross of the National Capital Area when she attended the 2007 Fire and Ice Ball as a guest of Chapter Board member and IMC Executive Vice President, Suresh Shenoy. Through a series of events, she met Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Chair of the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross. Teresa traveled with Bonnie to Madagascar where she witnessed first hand the life-saving work of the American Red Cross as the Red Cross volunteers went door to door delivering much needed information about measles and malaria inoculations. When she returned home, she decided then that she would get more involved with her local American Red Cross Chapter. She not only serves as the Chair of the Fire and Ice Ball, she is now a member of the Tiffany Circle, a Red Cross initiative that engages women leaders of our community to help the National Capital Area be the most prepared, fully engaged community in the nation - before, during and after emergencies of all kinds.

Tell me a little about the American Red Cross of the National Capital and the Fire and Ice Ball.

Teresa Carlson: The American Red Cross of the National Capital Area is my local Chapter that is out every single day helping families get back on their feet after fire destroys their home, connecting families with their son or daughter who is serving in our military when a family emergency occurs and teaching people how to be better prepared for emergencies of all kinds. I didn’t realize before I started being more involved with the Chapter that they are not a government agency and are funded by the generosity of our community. With all the work they do every single day, I now truly understand the importance of supporting my local Red Cross.

Our local Red Cross Chapter supports the men and women of our military on several levels. They connect families with their service member during a family emergency. They welcome thousands of wounded service members home to Andrews Air Force Base from Iraq and Afghanistan on their first night back on U.S. soil. They support and supplement staff at military hospitals at Fort Belvoir, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base, and National Naval Medical Center to better meet the needs of wounded service members and their families. They provide briefings to service members and their families before deployments so they know the resources available to support them before, during and after their deployments. Locally and around the world, the American Red Cross is committed and passionate about serving the men and women of our military and their families.

The Fire and Ice Ball is THE major fundraising event for the year for the Chapter and I’m honored to be a part. Especially since we are saluting the men and women of our military and their families.

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Comedian Rodney Dangerfield is perhaps best known for his line “I don’t get no respect.” One wonders if, in a previous life, Dangerfield was a chief operating officer. While the president and chief executive officer are accountable for establishing an organization’s goals – and meeting them – over time it is the COO who is charged with delivering results on a day-to-day basis. Operating down in the trenches, the COO is often overlooked and under-appreciated, but make no mistake: A company with a strong No. 2 holds a tremendous edge over its competitors.

To offer COOs a little respect, ExecutiveBiz has assembled its list of 10 Beltway chief operating officers who are especially instrumental in driving business growth and sound operational efficiency for their companies. You can find these 10 executives listed below in order of height from shortest to tallest (just kidding, they are not listed in any particular order).

Lawrence B. Prior III, SAIC

Prior assumed the COO role for SAIC in October of last year, previously serving as president of SAIC’s Intelligence, Security and Technology Group. Prior played a leadership role in the company’s October 2006 IPO, which involved a strategy to keep employees focused on client work during what can often be a challenging internal culture shift. Whether it is working on the IPO, global acquisition activity or establishing strategic alliances, Prior has proven adept at marrying day-to-day execution with the company’s long-term vision.

As COO, Prior serves as the company’s highest-ranking DC-area executive, and will continue to lock in on delivering top- and bottom-line growth for the rest of the year. Prior also remains intensely focused on the details of business fundamentals and execution, and expertly fulfills the day-to-day COO duties by tapping into extensive experience in program execution, and financial controls and functions. In an ExecutiveBiz interview last year, Prior cited “Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done,” by Larry Bossidy as his favorite business book. In Prior’s case, he has clearly been practicing what he reads — with great results.

Stacy Mendler, Alion Science and Technology

Mendler, the company’s first COO, is no stranger to our ExecutiveBiz top 10 lists. The employee-owned technology solutions provider relies on Mendler to manage execution of corporate strategy during what has been a highly active growth period – both organically and through acquisitions of Anteon and LogConGroup.

Mendler views her role as one of chief administrative officer; the person responsible for leading the company’s day-to-day strategy and execution. The formation of the COO position was in fact a testament to Alion’s growth, and with no predecessor or hand off, Mendler has made it her own, while continuing to play a lead role in executing the vision of the company.

Ray Winn, BearingPoint Public Services

In 2007 BearingPoint Public Services was like the New York Giants of the prime contractor community. While the usual suspects were grabbing headlines, BearingPoint quietly and matter-of-factly closed major deals and rose to No. 24 in Washington Technology’s Top 100 Federal Prime Contractors listing, an increase of over 60 percent during a three-year period.

One man responsible for helping the public services unit experience such dramatic growth is Winn. In leading the business and operational organizations for the $1.4 billion public services practice, he has consistently helped to register sizable increases in operating margins and profitability. We should also point out that if President Bush misses a Cabinet meeting and needs an update, Winn might be just the man to provide it: BearingPoint Public Services oversees and supports client delivery services at all 15 Cabinet-level agencies.

Terry Glasgow, NCI Information Systems, Inc.

It didn’t take long – roughly three months – for the leadership at NCI to realize Glasgow was uniquely suited to improve efficiencies and drive new business across the company’s organizations. After joining the NCI as Executive Vice President of Federal Programs in February 2004, Glasgow rose to Deputy COO and then in May of that same year to COO, reporting to Michael Solley, President of NCI.

Since that time, Glasgow has managed the day-to-day operations of the company, which was named to the Washington Technology Top 100 Federal Prime Contractors list in 2007. In January of last year, Glasgow added the role of president to his duties after Solley stepped down. In naming Glasgow president, NCI chairman and chief executive offer Charles Narang cited his operational leadership and role in driving a robust new business pipeline, one that the company expects to grow this year.

Robert A. Coleman, ManTech
Coleman has held the COO mantle since September 2004, and since that time has led day-to-day operations while playing a key role in helping ManTech grow both strategically and through acquisition. His acumen was on display when ManTech acquired prime government contractor McDonald Bradley Inc. for $76.5 billion last year. Coleman was CEO and President of Integrated Data Systems Corporation (IDS) until ManTech acquired it in February 2003.

While ManTech hasn’t quite yet met its goal of becoming a $5 billion company, it won’t take long — based on the rapid growth and activity Coleman has helped to usher in over the past few years. And throughout the acquisitions and growth — ManTech was named one of Business 2.0 magazine’s 100 Fastest Growing Technology Companies for the second consecutive year and to the Deloitte & Touche list of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Virginia — Coleman has not taken his eye off day-to-day operations.

Gary Hobbs, Unisys Federal Systems

As is the case with top COOs, Hobbs wears multiple hats for the IT services and solutions provider. At Unisys, he is not only responsible for sales, service delivery, account management and driving profitable revenue growth within defense agencies, but also improving the overall operational effectiveness across the Federal systems organization.

Over his 30-year career, Hobbs has developed particular expertise reengineering organizational structures to maximize efficient operations, as well as generating new business opportunities. He is also part owner of ‘Ferrari of Washington.’

George H. Wilson, Stanley

While in the Navy, Wilson served on a number of submarines and his final tour was with the Tomahawk cruise missile program. When it comes to cruise missiles, locking in on a strategic direction to hit the intended target is essential. Wilson has applied that instinct to his executive role with Stanley since joining the employee-owned systems integrator in 1989.

Wilson oversees Stanley’s account managers and executives responsible for customer relationships, revenue growth and client base expansion. In addition, he is responsible for corporate development activities and setting the direction for strategic services, corporate communications, marketing, business intelligence and proposal activities.

Aided by Wilson’s efforts, Stanley executed a successful IPO in October 2006 (though the majority of stock is owned by employees), and the company has grown to 3,500 employees and become a go-to integrator for Federal agencies mission critical needs. This year has been a busy one so far: the company was recently awarded a $570 million contract to continue support of the Passport Program, and in January the company was named – again – to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list.

Dan Johnson, General Dynamics Information Technology

Johnson is another frequent focus of the ExecutiveBiz blog, most recently when it was announced in February that he would take over for the retiring Michael E. Chandler. Johnson is no stranger to the COO role, serving in this capacity at Anteon Corp., until his current employer acquired it.

Johnson officially assumes the reins in April, and will focus on continuing the firm’s reputation for delivering exceptional customer service in the areas of IT, systems engineering and systems integration to the Department of Defense, national intelligence, federal civilian and state/local agencies.

Mark Gray, INDUS

Like Mendler, Gray was hired as INDUS’ first chief operating officer. In that role, he has assumed responsibility for leading both operations and business development, while integrating the company’s business development efforts with ongoing operations. Though his role is a demanding one, he still believes that executing both functions in a hands-on manner is vital.

As the company grows, Gray is focusing on making sure that each business unit receives the resources it needs to succeed, while holding them accountable for results. Gray’s track record at Anteon and technical background serves him well as he seeks to help INDUS become a $300M+ company four years from now – a goal that will require aggressive organic growth as well as M&A activity.

Paul Leslie, Apptis

While Leslie has only held the position of President and COO at the Federal IT services and solutions provider for about four months, it is certain that we will all be hearing a great deal more from both Apptis – and Leslie – as 2008 progresses. With Leslie on board, Apptis will continue its focus on an “…organizational strategy that emphasizes its broad technology services offerings while expanding the company’s value-added reseller business as the Apptis Technology Solutions business.”

To continue to usher along Apptis’ growth in the Federal market – it ranked No. 44 on Washington Technology’s 2007 Top 100 list of the largest government prime contractors – Leslie will tap 13 years of technical and management experience at EDS. While day-to-day operations will be a vital part of his role, Leslie’s background operating in entrepreneurial climates – most recently as part of the private-equity-backed management team that founded Apogen Technologies – will surely keep Apptis innovative and nimble as it grows.

Brian Lustig is co-founder of Lustig Communications, a Rockville, MD-based communications firm that works with growing technology and government IT firms. Lustig is also a contributor to local business and industry publications.

Long before he ever became CTO of Nortel Government Solutions, Alan Harbitter started his own company, PEC Solutions, with two other partners. When it went public in 2000, Harbitter wound up running a publicly traded company for the next five years. Then, in 2005, another milestone occurred: The company reached 1,700 employees and a $250M year run rate. That’s when it merged with Nortel Federal to form Nortel Government Solutions. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, as CTO, Harbitter has gone back to the things he loves most: more direct work in the areas he started out in — computer science and information technology.

Briefly tell us your background and how you got to where you are today.

Alan Harbitter: From an academic perspective, my training is in computer science and I received my PhD from George Mason. I’ve been interested in the university presence in this community for a while, so I’ve taught on and off at Mason. From a career perspective, I started out at Computer Sciences Corporation where I met my [former] partners, Dave Karlgaard and Paul Rice. Dave, Paul, and I started a company, PEC Solutions, in 1985. We went public in 2000. So I wound up running a publicly traded company for five years with Dave and Paul. In 2005 we reached 1,700 employees and a $250M year run rate. At that point, we merged with Nortel Federal to form Nortel Government Solutions. Back in the PEC days my time was monopolized with the responsibilities of running a publicly traded company. And I really missed more direct work in areas I started out in — computer science and information technology. So, with the Nortel acquisition in 2005, I got to return to what I loved the most. All of my duties now are CTO duties, and fewer dealings with accountants, lawyers, and stock analysts.

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“If you had 15 minutes alone with President Bush, what is the one critical issue you would bring to his attention?” Now, that might have been a dicey proposition for the POTUS if asked at a different D.C. venue today, but in the context of the ExecutiveBiz CIO Series Event held this morning at the WestWood Country Club in Vienna, Virginia, the question was a very good one.

The hypothetical was posed by the event’s moderator Barry West, Executive Vice President of SE Solutions. West asked the two featured speakers - Casey Coleman, CIO of the General Services Administration, and Venkatapathi (P.V.) Puvvada, VP and CTO of UNISYS - what critical Federal IT issue they would bring to the President’s attention if given 15 minutes of his time. Coleman deftly deferred to P.V., who said he would focus on the supply chain problem that exists in terms of available talent, and how there is a critical need to educate and attract highly-skilled IT workers.

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Those who keep watch for examples of Federal largess often cast an eye towards government contractors. It is easy to get lost in eye-popping contract awards that can involve billions of dollars, but of course the devil is in the details: the actual amount awarded often ends up far less than contract ceilings, and there are significant cost burdens in fulfilling a government contract.

Perhaps this is why watchdog groups and office holders perceive a level of profitability that exceeds the true numbers. This is at least part of the story one can infer from last month’s 13th Annual Grant Thornton Government Contractor Industry Survey. The findings, drawn from questionnaires distributed and received from 100 government contractors in 2007, indicate that more than three-fourths (76%) of surveyed companies reported a pre-tax profit of 10 percent or below.

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The political theater that is the presidential election season has us well accustomed to the daily barrage of polls and surveys each campaign is trumping. But it is a very different type of survey playing a key role in a massive Government IT contract awarded last year.

This past July, 29 firms were selected from a pool of 66 as eligible contractors for the $50 billion Alliant contract covering a broad range of government IT projects. Winners issued press releases, prepared for Agencies to begin using the contract, and no doubt rejoiced after spending hours, days, weeks preparing their bids.

A month later three unsuccessful bidders protested the General Services Administration (GSA) contract to the GAO. In September that list grew to eight. The winning bidders - names like AT&T, Alion Science and Technology, SAIC, Unisys, EDS, CACI Federal - dug in, waited for the outcome and hoped that the issues could be resolved.

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On Wednesday, I pulled the tech equivalent of a double header - attending ExecutiveBiz’s “the New New Internet” panel Q&A in the morning and the 2008 Southeast Venture Conference later in the day.

While no one seems to be able to agree on precisely what Web 2.0 means, the three panelists for the ExecutiveBiz morning event - Google’s Mike Bradshaw, Reed Overfelt from Mural Ventures and John Crupi of JackBe - were probably as well positioned as anyone in the Greater Washington area to give it a shot.

Overfelt set the pace of the discussion, postulating to those in the room that the traditional sales & marketing model is all but buried. Today, he added, organizations must respect and understand the wisdom of crowds, and how to integrate this dynamically social feedback into the sales & marketing process.

Bradshaw addressed that while the consumerization of the New New Internet may be underway, it is just beginning to penetrate the enterprise. Part of the challenge for Web 2.0 proponents, Crupi echoed, is to demonstrate its business value to the C-Suite.

But where the conversation steered, in large part aided by questions from the packed room, demonstrated that an element of Web 2.0 had permeated the enterprise. It was a theme that would follow me throughout the day as I shifted to the Southeast Venture Conference later that day: Software as a Service (SaaS).

Overfelt could not restrain his enthusiasm for how web-based services - driven by the needs of end users rather than IT mandates - were positively touching most aspects of the enterprise, from human resources to sales force automation and professional services. And while Federal agencies may not be diving head first into SaaS, Bradshaw indicated that some internal Agency champions were starting to emerge.

The discussion and Q&A lasted an hour, but you got the sense it could have lasted six. The questions and statements peppered panelists from around the room, with many speaking of the promise and challenges associated with SaaS and other aspects of the New New Internet.

While dozens of presenting companies at the Southeast Venture Conference offered their predictions - and pitches - in the hours following the morning event, the day started much as it began. Wednesday’s closing keynote was delivered by Jim Steele, president of Salesforce.com. While the ExecutiveBiz morning event captured the promise building around SaaS, Steele delivered the goods.

His company is considered one of, if not the most successful SaaS stories around. The on-demand CRM software company now has 41,000 customers - ranging in size from multinational enterprises to small businesses - and offers concrete proof of SaaS’ viability in the enterprise. The timing of Steele’s keynote was fortuitous, as his company announced blockbuster earnings minutes before he took the stage.

At the conclusion of his keynote - understandably giddy about the firm’s 4Q results - Steele said he’d be heading over to the bar for a celebratory drink and offered anyone in the audience to join him.

Soon perhaps, Steele will be just one of many raising a glass to toast SaaS - and the New New Internet.

Brian Lustig is co-founder of Lustig Communications, a Rockville, MD-based communications firm that works with growing technology and government IT firms. Lustig is also a contributor to local business and industry publications.