Gil Guarino is the CEO of Intuitive.IT, a small federal market information technology services organization that focuses on cyber and infrastructure integration. Transitioning from Senior Vice President of CACI to being named CEO of Intuitive.IT in February 2014, Guarino talked about how he is strategically leveraging the company for success and high growth over the next couple years.
Originally thinking about retiring from the industry, Guarino never really left the govcon business and is still heavily involved with a few local philanthropies.
WashingtonExec: You ‘retired’ from CACI in January 2013 as Executive Vice President and then decided to jump right back in to become CEO of Intuitive.IT. What led you to reenter the federal marketplace?
Gil Guarino: I did intend to retire “completely”, doing some limited consulting. However, after about a year and a few consulting engagements, I realized that I had a lot of gas left in the tank and wanted to be more involved with the industry and with the companies I was advising. A friend and company owner asked if I’d take on the role of CEO for an emerging small business, providing vision, strategic direction and leadership. The opportunity was a perfect fit because it got me back involved, responsible for results and gave me routine involvement with industry professionals, partners and employees. It also came with the flexibility to continue to travel and support philanthropic organizations, as well as supporting other business opportunities. While I enjoyed the consulting during the first year, it just wasn’t enough!
A lot of our current and projected business in the areas of data, cyber, applications and infrastructure centers on Oracle technology. And as such, we’ve recently become an Oracle Value Added Reseller. Our focus and intent is to provide a full set of VAR services from product resale to solution services.
WashingtonExec: What do you think differentiates Intuitive.IT from the competition? How are you able to provide your clients with top-notch solutions while navigating a contracting marketplace?
Gil Guarino: As an emerging small business in the federal market we’re very much like other small businesses, each offering solutions and/or services in areas such as infrastructure, data analytics, applications and security. What makes us different than other companies is that we are building Intuitive.IT with a focus on creating differentiated solutions and services that address focused problems and meet broad based needs in the Public Sector market. We’re dedicated to do so with solutions that will scale and creating a company culture where seasoned professionals want to work in a entrepreneurial environment.
A lot of our current and projected business in the areas of data, cyber, applications and infrastructure centers on Oracle technology. And as such, we’ve recently become an Oracle Value Added Reseller. Our focus and intent is to provide a full set of VAR services from product resale to solution services. We’re currently in the process of creating packaged solutions that address critical issues such as Identity and Access Management, migration to the cloud, supply chain integrity and procurement transparency just to mention a few. These are common problems across the entire Public Sector market and we will market, sell and deliver our solutions/services directly and through/with a growing list of partners.
Concurrently, Intuitive is working with customers/partners using Oracle’s business intelligence solutions to help realize the value of their enterprise data. For another, we’re supporting their migration from an on-premise to a cloud-based enterprise solution. And in the intelligence community we’re addressing the complex issue of Identity and Access Management in a federated environment.
WashingtonExec: Out of what you listed above, what might you consider a game changer solution for Intuitive.IT?
Gil Guarino: I’d have to say the solutions and services that we can bring to the problems associated with supply chain integrity/risk management across the federal market and identity and access management in the cyber market. We have a lot going on in the supply chain integrity/risk management space and I’d be happy to talk about them in another few months. In the cyber/identity and access management market we have past performance and solutions expertise to leverage, as well as evolving packaged solutions. Identity and access management solutions are critical to big data integration across common sources. Any organizations/programs providing core mission functions in a mobile environment absolutely require a robust identity and access management solution. Our experience and solutions enable organizations to establish individual trust in order to grant access and to do so across organizational boundaries.
WashingtonExec: How are the challenges you face today as a small business CEO different from the challenges you faced at a larger, public organization?
Gil Guarino: Clearly for a small business the challenge becomes gaining the past performance and gaining prime contract positions. Finding the right places to subcontract and partner is also challenging because in today’s markets primes want the direct labor content. As such, our value propositions have to be real and focused to earn a small business role with prime partners, as well as end-user customers working to meet their small business goals.
Addressing this challenge is an incremental, very deliberate process and will take some time before we see an inflection point in our growth. However, we’ll accelerate that point as we focus on differentiated and scalable solutions.
WashingtonExec: Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers? Possibly provide some insight into your life away from work.
Gil Guarino: Sure. Besides the time spent traveling, I devote considerable time to supporting the Wolf Trap Foundation as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. Arvind Manocha, Wolf Trap Foundation’s new CEO, and his staff have embarked on the next chapter in their vision for Wolf Trap. As a Board member, along with the staff, volunteers and others we have plenty of opportunity to devote time to create, expand and financially support a singular environment for people of all ages and backgrounds to connect with artists, family, friends and fans, through the power of the performing arts. Come out and enjoy any number of the 73 performances this season, 41 of which are performing at Wolf Trap for the first time.
I’m also very involved with the American Heart Association Mid-Atlantic Affiliate centered on its annual ‘Hearts Delight’ wine events.
