The finalists for this year’s Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards were announced in September and WashingtonExec is bringing you its annual series with the nominees.
The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Professional Services Council have unveiled the finalists for the 14th Annual Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards, the premier awards event for the Washington area government contracting community. The winners will be named at a Nov. 1 gala dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner.
WashingtonExec caught up with one of the finalists, Tom Deierlein, CEO of ThunderCat Technology, to hear about his company’s near- and long-term plans.
WashingtonExec: What is your organization’s plan for growth over the next 3-5 years?
Tom Deierlein: 2015 was a critical year for the company. We went through a valuable 5-year planning exercise that kicked off in December 2014. The goal was to explore new markets including cloud, state and local as well as commercial and also explore and examine the overall strategy for ThunderCat Technology.
Bottom line, we are continuing to focus exclusively on the federal market and not pursuing state, local or commercial opportunities. We had decided to look at the gap in the Top 20 Federal Agencies where IT spending is taking place, but not with us and hiring sales and engineers to cover those agencies and bureaus.
Each and every employee participated in setting the company’s goals. In December 2014, employees filled out a 20-minute survey to assess the business from vision to mission to marketing and logistics. This formal assessment is called “Corporate Compass” or QuadStrat. It explores performance scores across 35 business disciplines. It also benchmarks your performance with the over 4,000 organizations across the globe.
In a separate survey, employees were asked to answer just three simple questions: 1) What do they like about working there? 2) What needs to improve? 3) Have they been at the company for less than 2 years or more?
Once we had everyone’s input, four senior leaders and I went offsite for three separate one day sessions to analyze it. We set and finalized SMART goals, across each department including revenue goals, hiring decisions, quality improvements, training and so on. Finally, under the title of ThunderCat 2020, we communicated these goals, setting the direction for our company for the coming years.
WashingtonExec: How has your business been able to grow as the federal market contracts?
Tom Deierlein: I see or hear this question a lot. The reality is that it is an $80 billion-a-year market. $80 billion. OK, what happens if it is only a $70 billion or $60 billion a year? If you can’t find a way to compete and win business in a market that huge, then perhaps Darwin has spoken.
On a more tactical note – our job as a reseller is to monitor the market for new and emerging technologies and make sure to partner and bring to our customers and prospects those technologies that can help support their missions. So, as long as we don’t get complacent and are open to hearing about new, disruptive technologies, we will always be in the market with something valuable to discuss with our customers and sell when appropriate.
WashingtonExec: What is the fastest-growing component of your business?
Tom Deierlein: Cyber. No big surprise there. Back in 2013, we created a separate cyber-specific team that included key hires, training for all sales and engineers and other resources. While industry averages are 14.7 percent growth, TCat Cyber revenue was up 48 percent over 2014 and 125 percent over 2013.
WashingtonExec: What was your organization’s largest accomplishment in the last 12-18 months?
Tom Deierlein: While I would like to think that going through the 8-month strategic planning process, ThunderCat 2020, to guide our strategy through 2020 is the biggest, in terms of tangible wins I would have to say winning SEWP V. We were a top performing SDVOSB (Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business) on SEWP IV, but that didn’t guarantee a spot on the next version.
It is the single most important governmentwide contract for FedIT and we are proud to be on it and again a top performer. Their reputation for excellence is very well earned. It is an effective and efficient way for all agencies to get they need.
WashingtonExec: Given today’s government contracting marketplace, how has your organization’s approach to customers, employees and future customers changed?
Tom Deierlein: I am not sure it has changed that much. As mentioned before, we periodically have to step back and analyze this market as well as other markets and the emergence of cloud and “as-a-service” offerings. I think we do a much better job studying spending down to the bureau level so that we have people going after the right budgets.
I once heard Michael J. Fox talking about his military father surprisingly supporting his decision to drop out of high school and move to Hollywood. “Son, if you are going to be a lumberjack, you gotta go where the trees are.” So, perhaps that describes our approach, we are making sure to call on those organizations with large budgets. Sounds kind of simple, but it does mean a renewed focus and saying no to SLED and commercial efforts.
WashingtonExec: What are the largest challenges that you predict your business will face in the next 5 years?
Tom Deierlein: Cloud. It is not a matter of if, but when. It is both the biggest challenge and biggest opportunity as well. We are five years into the “cloud first” policy and it is a balance between cloud and security. Federal CIOs are figuring out the best path and taking it.
I don’t think this will happen overnight, but if you are selling and people start renting, you better be prepared to be in the rental business. Cloud is a different and complicated model, not just from a technical and staffing point, but financial models for pay as you go deals as well. Whole new animal.
Related: Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, PSC Announce 2016 Government Contractor Awards Finalists
