When it comes to data, many federal agencies ⏤ and defense organizations in particular ⏤ struggle with maneuverability. They have the data to drive mission outcomes but may encounter difficulties in getting the data where it needs to go, securely, in a usable format.
Take, for example, the U.S. Air Force.
“They need to move data from combat aircraft across the battlespace domain, to enable better decision-making. That requires transformative methods for analyzing that data, sharing it and then securely transporting it to the multiple mission partners,” said Tim Patterson.
As chief growth officer at Intelligent Waves, Patterson is part of a team delivering data maneuverability and protection across defense agencies, including the Air Force, the Defense Information Systems Agency, U.S. Cyber Command and the Special Operations community, among others.
To make data actionable, Intelligent Waves encourages the government to treat data like a platform.
“Typically, in the DOD, we think of platforms as aircraft, ships and tanks. If you think of data as another platform, then you can focus on capturing, analyzing, moving and getting all the right pieces in place. All the things we focus on for the other platforms: We do that for data,” Patterson said.
The company brings this to life with field-tested solutions like DENet and GRAYPATH that deliver robust, reliable, secure, non-attributable communications from the cloud to the edge. Intelligent Waves calls this the “next generation of expeditionary communications,” and it backs those offerings with expertise in network engineering, systems engineering and cybersecurity.
Intelligent Waves also brings to the table an intimate familiarity with the unique needs of the DOD community.
“We understand how the existing data transport is being used, and what they can leverage to transform and optimize” to keep the data flowing where and when it’s needed most, in a secure manner, Patterson said.
As he looks to drive growth for Intelligent Waves, Patterson sees an opportunity to broaden and deepen engagements across the defense landscape. Nearly all DOD organizations “are facing similar challenges,” he said. “They’re collecting a lot of data, and they don’t have all the answers on how to make it actionable.”
To seize on that opportunity, the company’s leadership stays targeted on what it does best.
“We cover a lot of areas: cybersecurity, engineering, mission support, data science. But it’s all laser-focused on data,” Patterson said.
“Whether it is coming off an aircraft or from some other place, we enable our customers to collect and store it, analyze it, make it usable,” he said. “We know what we do well, and we are well-positioned within the DOD. We don’t need to go everywhere else. We can help solve a lot of problems and continue to grow demonstrably.”
The strategy has worked so well, in fact, that the firm’s recent growth in a way presents Patterson with his biggest business challenge. Those who know Intelligent Waves still think of it as a small business, and he’s working hard to reposition the firm as the more capable mid-sized enterprise it has become.
“We graduated from being a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business about two years ago,” he said. “Our customers know our individuals and our people, but sometimes they don’t know the transformations that we’ve made to allow us to be part of those larger and more complex programs.”
In fact, the firm has made significant internal changes to reflect that growth.
“Over the last three years, we’ve transformed business operations, changed a lot of our leadership, narrowed down our market focus and we have also been working the contract mechanisms to optimize how we deliver to the market,” he said.
It takes a personal touch to communicate those changes to the potential client base and across the landscape of potential partners.
“We have regular conversations with our customers and with industry partners. We have had relationships with some of the large systems integrators and DOD organizations in the past, it’s a different conversation now in terms of what we can bring and what we can do,” Patterson said.
While those conversations help shift perceptions, Patterson said the key to growth is successful delivery.
“It’s all about delivering the outcomes at size and scale,” he said. “Once they know what you can do ⏤ when they know the business behind you has your back, and that you can scale to do bigger and better things ⏤ they’re going to keep coming back to you.”
All this has personal significance to Patterson, who started his career as a naval aviator and has since put in over 20 years on the GovCon side.
“I really enjoy working for a company that is focused on solving the challenges of defense customers,” he said. “We are enabling the men and women in the field with the best capabilities, so that they can do their jobs every day safely and effectively. That’s what keeps me focused here.”