On Sept. 4, the finalists for this year’s Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards were announced and WashingtonExec is bringing you its annual series with the nominees.
The winners will be unveiled on Nov. 13 at The Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce and the Professional Services Council. With more than 1,000 business and public sector leaders attending the event, our series will keep you up-to-date about all the finalists for this year — who they are, what they do and why they are worthy of winning.
WashingtonExec’s next interview is with Ron Fishbeck, CEO of Systems Made Simple. Systems Made Simple is nominated for “Contractor of the Year” in the $75 million to $300 million category.
WashingtonExec: How would you describe your business strategy over the past 3-5 years, and what is your organization’s plan for growth over the next 3-5 years?
Ron Fishbeck: Over the past few years, Systems Made Simple has started to engage with adjacent federal healthcare organizations such as Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense Health Agency (DHA) using the same business model that has made us the leading IT service provider at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) under T4 IDIQ. We use a GWAC/IDIQ strategy within these agencies to compete for and win task orders. With our CIO-SP3 contract award, we have been aggressively marketing HHS and DHA and have since secured task orders in both agencies.
Moving forward, we look to be at the forefront of the data interoperability movement based on current work we are doing for DHA as well as our own internal R&D in this area. We will continue to use IDIQs and GWACs to expand our current business and maintain our aggressive growth path. As well, we will look to take federal solutions into the commercial marketplace, where applicable.
I have always maintained a “lead-by-example” management style. I have found in my 35 years in the industry that being a role-model, mentor and leader in this capacity generates trust across the organization and dedication to the organization’s mission by each and every employee.
WashingtonExec: How has your business been able to grow as the federal market contracts?
Ron Fishbeck: From our revenue growth, you can see that we are continuing to grow at a rapid pace despite declining federal budgets. Our business has continued to expand by virtue of the fact that the VA has not been hit with declining budgets like the rest of the federal government. In fact, the VA’s budget has been slightly increasing as more veterans in need of healthcare and benefits have come home from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
WashingtonExec: What is the fastest growing component of your business?
Ron Fishbeck: Infrastructure Management Services is our fastest growing business component, having managed all five of the VA’s corporate data centers. This includes all of the day-to-day operations that go on within each data center, as well as technical advisory services and hardware/software procurement. We currently have more than 600 staff members supporting this effort, and it continues to increase in scope and responsibility.
WashingtonExec: What was your organization’s largest accomplishment in the last 12-18 months?
Ron Fishbeck: Our work on the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Document Conversion Services (DCS) contract has enabled the VA to convert more than 44 percent of current disability claims into digital files.
We fully support the VA’s initiative for digital document conversion, as this program works to alleviate the burden of mass amounts of paper claims while enhancing data accuracy and operational efficiencies — all with the goal of ensuring veterans’ needs are met more quickly. The document conversion program is a significant initiative spearheaded by the VA to streamline the well-deserved support our nation’s veterans receive, and we are proud to be part of it.
The DCS program is the key engine for the VA’s Veterans Claims Intake Program (VCIP), which aims to enhance the use of electronic claims processing through the creation of digital, searchable files. As the prime contractor on the DCS contract, we have architected one of the highest volume document digitization programs in existence. The operation is a major lever in supporting the VA’s goal of reducing the amount of time required to establish, develop, rate and pay veteran claims. Through the program, the VA has converted more than 165 million pages of claims documents to digital images, adding more than one million files each day into the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) — VA’s paperless claims processing system.
Under the three-year, $220 million contract, we receive source materials from VA Regional Offices — including printed and handwritten content such as paper, photographs, fax, eFax, microfilm, microfiche, CD/DVDs and flash drives — and convert them to standardized, indexed, searchable electronic documents. The conversions also support long-term storage of the original materials. The program is part of the Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology (T4) contract vehicle.
WashingtonExec: Given the current state of the federal contracting market, how has your organization’s marketing approach to customers, employees and future customers changed?
Ron Fishbeck: Systems Made Simple has remained focused upon its flagship marketing message — providing superior IT solutions in support of clinical architecture, data and application challenges in the healthcare industry. This means that we have continued to market our core competency offerings to the VA, HHS and DHA, specifically through our CIO-SP3 and T4 contract vehicles. Furthermore, in order to provide greater added value to our customers, we have made tremendous investments in our labs, clinical informatics, data analytics, and above all, a large emphasis on transparency.
WashingtonExec: What are the largest challenges that you predict your business will face in the next 5 years?
Ron Fishbeck: Challenges are ever-present in the federal space, but the biggest challenges will stem from stiff competition as we continue to navigate the large business space. Aggressive account management techniques together, while maintaining a nimble and flexible organization that can respond quickly to changing landscapes, is what will keep us in front of our competition. The largest challenges (and hence, opportunities) will stem from the data interoperability movement to interchange and process the tsunami of data created by legislation in the Affordable Care Act and HITECH Act (Meaningful Use). The company that masters data interoperability will be at the forefront of the healthcare IT marketplace and we plan to be that company.
WashingtonExec: How does your organization maintain engagement with all levels of employees?
Ron Fishbeck: Systems Made Simple is based on a core foundation of hard work, quality service delivery and success.
To ensure that all employees, no matter their expertise or level within the company, are staying engaged, we have instituted and encouraged the use of social business software. With this tool, members of the organization can upload and share documents, post questions, post articles and blogs they may have written, and most importantly, collaborate with one another. It has proven to be a successful tool for the company in inspiring open dialogue and sharing ideas across the organization. We plan to bolster the use of this social business platform even further in the months and years to come, making our organization more modern, mobile and efficient than ever.
WashingtonExec: Have millennials entering the workforce changed your corporate policies? If so, how?
Ron Fishbeck: Millennials entering the workforce have not directly affected corporate policy, but we have embraced the understanding that they are today’s leaders in digital and IT influence. This generation has grown up in the digital era, making them perfect candidates for a business such as ours where developing next-level technology solutions are essential.
To adapt to today’s changing work environment and attract as many talented employees as possible, we have implemented a work-from-home policy to accommodate remote workers and telecommuting. Furthermore, we are committed to the importance of professional development, a value add that we know millennials hold in much higher regard than previous generations. As such, we maintain multiple programs in which employees can further develop their skill sets, including an Individual Development Plan (IDP), which outlines the technical and managerial skills that an individual may lack or is interested in obtaining; an educational reimbursement of $5,000 per employee, per calendar year; as well as ongoing management and leadership development, encouraging managers to take communication, personnel management and leadership development seminars and workshops.
WashingtonExec: How is your business involved in the community?
Ron Fishbeck: As a leading Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned prime contractor, Systems Made Simple is committed to supporting organizations that provide much-needed services for America’s veterans. Currently, we support six such organizations: the Fisher House Foundation, the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), Able Forces, the American Freedom Foundation, the National Veterans Tee Tournament, the National Disable Veterans Winter Sports Clinic and Homes for Our Troops (HFOT).
In 2013, we started supporting HFOT, an organization that builds specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans. Employees have volunteered their time and services to assist in the construction and landscaping of adapted homes at multiple sites. We also hosted a golf tournament in the spring, of which we covered all costs and 100 percent of the proceeds went directly to HFOT. A total of $70,000 was raised, providing most of the funding needed for Marine Lance Corporal Nicholas Thom’s home. LCpl Thom was left a bi-lateral amputee with multiple upper-extremity injuries and three missing fingers when an IED exploded at his feet in Afghanistan.
As an Intrepid-level sponsor of the Fisher House Foundation, we participate in multiple annual events that help raise funds for the organization and provide employees the opportunity to contribute directly via payroll reduction. To date, the company and its employees have contributed more than $70,000 to the foundation.
We have also supported numerous WWP events, including participation in 5k runs. In one event, our team, with more than 20 racers, placed first earning the title of “Top Race Team.” We also co-sponsored a “Casino Night” fundraiser for WWP, raising $18,500.
Additionally, we are involved with Able Forces, a non-profit organization that provides professional, career-oriented employment exclusively to wounded warriors and disabled veterans, we actively attend veteran job fairs such as Heroes for Hire, and are a Bronze-level sponsor of the American Freedom Foundation, and a Silver-level sponsor of the National Veterans Tee Tournament and the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic.
WashingtonExec: What would you say are the top one or two leadership qualities necessary to be a great leader?
Ron Fishbeck: Trust and mutual respect
WashingtonExec: If we were to speak directly to your leadership team, what would they say is your management style?
Ron Fishbeck: By definition, I believe they would say I have a hands-off management style. By that, I mean I give my organization the ability to think creatively and outside of the box while allowing them to exercise their own judgment with respect to the aspects of their individual jobs. I trust in them and they, in turn, trust in me.
How would your team describe your leadership qualities?
Ron Fishbeck: I have always maintained a “lead-by-example” management style. I have found in my 35 years in the industry that being a role-model, mentor and leader in this capacity generates trust across the organization and dedication to the organization’s mission by each and every employee.
WashingtonExec: What was a turning point or inflection point in your career?
Ron Fishbeck: The turning point in my career came from my mentor Sid Snook while I was at my very first job. Sid took me aside and told me that after two years of observing me that, although I exhibited great technical skills, my interpersonal interactions and leadership qualities were the areas in which I truly excelled. He urged me to follow a career path into management, and the rest is history.
WashingtonExec: What is the #1 book (business or other) that you gift to individuals?
Ron Fishbeck: Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
WashingtonExec: What advice do you have for aspiring leaders in the government contracting industry?
Ron Fishbeck: Always run your business with the highest ethical standards; serve your customers first and your bottom line second; and remember you only get one reputation — make sure it is top notch.
WashingtonExec: What was your first job?
Ron Fishbeck: I was a software engineer for CSC.
WashingtonExec: Overall, how did that experience shape your career?
Ron Fishbeck: When I look back at this time in my career, while I was assigned to an IV&V project and wanted to write code, the thing I found most valuable was how the IV&V experience shaped my ability to communicate, in writing, both clearly and concisely. This helped me not only in technical writing, but also in my ability to write quality proposals once we started Systems Made Simple. It is funny how your skill set can shift toward things other than what you originally thought you’d be doing that end up having a profound effect on your career development. Everything happens for a reason.
WashingtonExec: What three pieces of advice would you give your kids?
Ron Fishbeck: Have a solid work ethic, treat everyone with respect and remember, all good things take time.
WashingtonExec: How has your organization changed over the past year and what makes you optimistic about winning GovCon Awards in your category this year?
Ron Fishbeck: Since last year, our organization has been making the transformation from a small business into a large business. We have added more than 200 employees to our staff in that time, and our business base has again doubled. It is our sustained growth of doubling year-over-year that shows not only that we have a well-tuned business development engine, but that we also have scaled to meet the demands of a continually evolving and growing business market. We have been selected to the INC 500/5000 for the last six years running and are No. 4 in CRN’s Top 500 Solution Providers. We have also been ranked in the Washington Technology 2014 Top 100 Federal Contractors. While awards aren’t everything, they are an indication of a highly successful business that is deserving of an award as prestigious as the Government Contractor of the Year.
