WashingtonExec’s new member Mark Cabrey has 30 years’ experience in the federal and commercial information services industry, specifically in financial operations and operational management. Currently executive vice president and chief operating officer of Phacil, Cabrey heads up all contract operations for the company in addition to capture and business development.
Prior to his current roles, Cabrey served as Phacil’s first chief financial officer from January 2014 through April 2015. Before joining Phacil, he spent seven years at Apptis/URS and 20 years at Unisys in various financial planning, accounting, audit, pricing and M&A roles, both at the corporate and field levels.
Cabrey’s broad experiences across a multitude of finance, accounting and operational disciplines has uniquely qualified him for his current role. WashingtonExec sat down and talked with him about his company and how it is serving the government.
WashingtonExec: What is Phacil’s overall purpose?
Mark Cabrey: Phacil was founded in 2001 on a single idea: deliver better services to the U.S. federal government. A few years ago, we adopted a common vision for the future: commitment to our customers and employees, excellence in performance, and service to our nation.
We have continued to focus on those pillars by being a great place to work and driving excellence by delivering customer satisfaction and outstanding CPARS (Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System) appraisals. In doing so, we have maintained our reputation as a responsible, mid-tier federal contractor committed to serving our nation.
WashingtonExec: How do you help government agencies fulfill their missions?
Mark Cabrey: Phacil is a leading provider of mission-focused, results-driven technology solutions to the federal government, and we have cultivated capabilities that strongly align with federal spending priorities. Our core competencies include software services, systems engineering & integration and operations, cybersecurity and service desk operations.
We help our government customers through our delivery approach. In particular, we’re steadfast in our commitment to excellence and quality in how we execute both externally and internally. Our customers admire our focus and attention to detail. Across our contracts, Phacil reduces costs by an average of 25 percent for our customers while improving quality. Through our technical core competencies and management methodologies, we have earned over 80 Exceptional CPARs over the past 15 years. This has afforded us the ability to transition into the full and open market more readily.
Lastly, as a validation to our commitment to excellence and quality, Phacil is among a few companies that boast a combination of certifications, including ISO 9001 (2015), ISO 20000, ISO 27001, CMMI Maturity Level 3 for Services plus Service System Development, and CMMI Maturity Level 3 for Development.
WashingtonExec: Talk about your unique performance model that incentivizes employees to provide excellent service.
Mark Cabrey: The company uses an employee award program called “ferocious execution,” a term created by one of our customers based on our work ethic and overall approach. Employees – often those recommended by customers – are recognized by their management or colleagues for going above and beyond. Recognized employees receive an award between $150-$500.
In addition, program managers have the option to develop their own incentive programs on individual contracts as appropriate. We use employee-of-the month programs on a few of our service desk contracts in which honored employees receive a plaque to display at their desk and a Ferocious Execution award.
WashingtonExec: How else do you distinguish your company from other firms?
Mark Cabrey: One of our biggest differentiators in the mid-tier space is our ability to be agile in our processes as well as in our decision-making. We use this to our advantage in responding quickly to customers, proposals and partnering decisions, as well as dealing internally with employee matters.
In addition, as a company that was classified as a small business not long ago, Phacil is a huge supporter of the government’s efforts to work with small businesses, and we actively reach out to small businesses to partner with.
Other notable accomplishments that distinguish Phacil include:
- Tech Council of Maryland’s 2015 Contracting Firm of the Year
- Coalition for Government Procurement’s Excellence in Partnership, 2016 Government Savings Award
- Sixth largest cybersecurity provider under PSC Code D310 (IT and Telecom-Cyber Security and Data Backup).
- Inc 5000 Fastest-growing Private Companies in America (10th consecutive year)
- Top Government Technology Contractors, Washington Business Journal (sixth consecutive year)
- Virginia’s Fastest-growing Companies (fourth consecutive year)
- CRN Solution Provider 500 (sixth consecutive year)
- CRN Elite 150 Managed Service Provider
WashingtonExec: What do you hope to get out of WashingtonExec, and what do you hope to contribute?
Mark Cabrey: Through my membership, I hope to expand upon my professional network with other members, firms and people in the community, and over time, potentially take on additional board participation roles.
Another goal will be getting the Phacil name and brand more readily known in the mid-tier market. I hope with my experiences as both a chief financial officer and now a chief operating officer, I can bring plenty of practical experience to all councils within WashingtonExec.
Related: In New Role at Savan Group, Alison Moye Sees Certainty in Great Customer Service
