eds.com | At a Glance: October 2006

EDS Mentor-Protégé Program Manager Receives Women of Color Technology Award

Deborah Jackson-Hamilton, EDS Mentor-Protégé Program Manager
Deborah Jackson-Hamilton, EDS Mentor-Protégé Program Manager

Deborah Jackson-Hamilton, EDS Mentor-Protégé Program Manager, was honored at the 2006 National Women of Color Technology Awards Conference for displaying outstanding corporate responsibility on October 20 and 21 in Atlanta, GA. The awards ceremony was created to recognize the significant accomplishments of minority women in technology and business.

Jackson-Hamilton was recognized for her achievements as a leader and advocate of small businesses by offering guidance and resources to help them grow within the government industry. Her identification and mentoring of small, up-and-coming businesses provides an avenue for EDS' success in small-business partnering.

Speakers at the conference will discuss job growth diversity, the shortage of women in IT careers, technological innovation and women-owned IT ventures.

She will be sharing recognition in outstanding achievement with other IT professionals, including EDS' Small Business Liaison Officer, Gwen Johnson, and EDS project manager and information analyst, Iris Borders who are both being recognized for the Women of Color Technology All-Star award.

October 2006

Mentor-Protégé Contact Information:

Mentor-Protégé Upcoming Training Classes:

Partnerships: the Foundation for a Successful Mentor-Protégé Relationship

Sizing Up the Future of IT

Since its inception in 1998, Dev Technology Group, Inc., a small, disadvantaged business specializing in data and database management solutions and web-based application development, looked to establish itself with the major players in the government IT market. One of its first relationships was with EDS.

The two companies collaborated on EDS' Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Enterprise Standard Architecture III task order. EDS quickly realized its small-business subcontractor was a diamond in the rough and began working with the company to identify meaningful subcontractor roles that played to its strengths.

Dev Technology's commitment to service excellence caught the eye of the EDS Department of Defense (DoD) delivery team. They, in turn, recommended Dev Technology Group to EDS Mentor-Protégé Program Manager Deborah Jackson-Hamilton.

"We had been informally mentored by strong EDS leaders since our business relationship began in 1998," said Dev Technology Group President Sanjeev Duggal. "We were excited to have the opportunity to formalize the relationship by entering the M-PP with sponsorship under the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency."

"The M-PP creates a good balance between helping us achieve growth and creating an infrastructure to sustain that growth," said John Mutarelli, Dev Technology vice president of operations and business development. "It has helped provide valuable resources that generally a small company cannot afford on its own and helped shape our strategy to position Dev Technology Group for stronger growth."

Teaming arrangements between large and small businesses can bring increased opportunity in government contracting. The key to a long-term strategic relationship is the ability to mutually market and deliver critical solutions to clients.

Since its entrance into the Mentor-Protégé Program in September 2005, Dev Technology Group has achieved 7 percent business growth. "Dev Technology Group is the small-business partner that every large company looks for," said Mike Finn, EDS vice president for security and intelligence. "They have a well-defined skill set that is in high demand, a quality workforce and a company ethos that prepares them for success."

The GAITS-EDS Relationship: A Winning Proposition for Both Companies

Sizing Up the Future of IT
Tom Asefi, President of GAITS.

A small business finding a large-business mentor is most often a win-win relationship. Small businesses gain the expertise and solid delivery experience of the mentor company. And large businesses gain innovative solutions and entry into niche markets.

Such has been the case for EDS and GAITS, an SBA 8(a) certified company that provides a variety of IT and network solutions to a number of federal government clients. They jointly provide helpdesk support services to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development office. GAITS has been paired with EDS since 2003 in the Defense Information System Agency's Mentor-Protégé Program.

Founded in 1997 by brothers Tom and Tony Asefi, GAITS has become an award-winning IT services firm that has a Top Secret facility clearance. Prior to entering the M-PP, GAITS had begun ISO 9001:2000 certification process. This process laid the foundation for GAITS to complete its SEI CMMI Level 2 certification in an unprecedented six months under their M-P relationship.

This relationship has helped GAITS mature as a company, including investing in a cost-point accounting system that is more likely used by larger companies.

GAITS President Tom Asefi said the relationship with EDS has been extremely important to GAITS. "In the beginning, it helps you gain business, because that's the bottom line," Asefi said. "As you get into the program you see the company grow. The best thing you get out of the mentor-protégé relationship is that it helps you build your back offices and infrastructure."

The company will graduate from the Mentor-Protégé Program in 2008.

EDS DISA Protégés Participate in AFCEA TechNet

Members of Ingenium Corporation at their booth at the TechNet Conference in Washington DC.
Members of Ingenium Corporation at their booth at the TechNet Conference in Washington DC.

This year EDS' DISA protégés had the opportunity to attend and exhibit at the annual AFCEA Technet conference, which was held on June 19 and 20 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C.

This two-day event is one of the nation's largest C4I conferences, which began with an address by the second-highest ranking military officer in the U.S. Defense Department, Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr., USN, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The conference featured some the most influential speakers in government and civilian arenas. A highlight of the 2-day conference was former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell's, USA (Ret), plenary address focusing on how information technology impacts our nation's security and preeminence in the global community.

All DISA protégés exhibited at the DISA Mentor-Protégé pavilion. The DISA protégés also had the opportunity to meet and greet with various DISA representatives, including DISA Director Lt. Gen Charles E. Croom, Jr. In addition, numerous EDS Executives, including Cozy Bailey, Vice President of Business Relations and Rick Sutton, EDS Client Care Delivery Executive, stopped by during the conference to show their support of the EDS protégés.

In attendance were EDS protégés Bay State, GAITS, Ingenium Corporation, and SuprTek.

Protégé Spotlight: A Recent Graduate's Perspective of the Mentor-Protégé Program Relationship

MORI Associates, a recent graduate of the Navy Mentor-Protégé Program, shared their thoughts on the impact of their participation in the EDS Mentor-Protégé Program….

Shana Deldjoubar, President and CEO of MORI Associates shares her thoughts about the Mentor-Protégé program:

"Over the past three years, MORI Associates has benefited greatly from our program. MORI was able to tap into a variety of resources at EDS US Government Solutions. Some of the tangible results are implementation of a more robust cost accounting tool, CMMI certification, and a ten fold increase in staff. As MORI now enters our unique after care program, mentoring will continue with the goal of increased quality business for our partnership. Congratulations to the entire MORI team!"

Cozy Bailey, EDS USGS Vice President of Office Business Relations

"MORI Associates' Mentor-Protégé agreement under the Department of the Navy was a 'WIN-WIN-WIN' for the DOD, our mentor (EDS) and the protégé (MORI). Through this program, my company in conjunction with our mentor added marketing capabilities showing added value to our customer assuring them of receiving top-value, top-quality products from the partnership. We received guidance from recognized business leaders in areas such as strategic planning, budgeting, marketing, personnel and financial management. It created a long-term relationship with our partner EDS. Through dedicated hard work from EDS Mentor-Protégé Program Manager, Ms. Deborah Jackson-Hamilton, MORI's customer-base and revenue grew from 8 employees to over 80 employees during the past three years."

"It's an honor to be part of the EDS Mentor-Protégé under DoD," said Shana Deldjoubar. "The men and women of MORI and EDS have worked incredibly hard to support DoD contract requirements, and to help DoD bring their new vision for our nation's military men and women."

One of MORI's most significant accomplishments in the program has been their pursuit of SEI CMMI Level 2 certification. Steve Pyles, MORI Associates Program Director shared his thought on the process:

At MORI Associates, CMMI has improved overall awareness of good processes through a prominent process focus and commitment. Through the addition and [implementation] of CMMI-compliant processes, MORI has improved its overall quality by leaps and bounds. Specifically, MORI has increased customer involvement and project visibility, become vastly more efficient with management oversight, and has reduced defects significantly while showing notable improvement in requirements management and risk mitigation. Additionally, MORI has begun collecting various measures to further assist their process improvement efforts in the future by quantitatively identifying, analyzing, and addressing trends.

"Over the past three years, MORI Associates has benefited greatly from our program. MORI was able to tap into a variety of resources at EDS US Government Solutions. Some of the tangible results are implementation of a more robust cost accounting tool, CMMI certification, and a ten fold increase in staff. As MORI now enters our unique after care program, mentoring will continue with the goal of increased quality business for our partnership. Congratulations to the entire MORI team!"

MORI Associates graduated from the EDS Mentor-Protégé Program on June 30, 2006. They will enter into the EDS Aftercare program for a two-year period in which they will continue to receive mentoring assistance and continue to pursue strategic business relationships with EDS.

Mentor-Protégé Project Lead Spotlight:

Welcome new EDS Mentor Protégé Program, Project Lead, Sandrelle Broadnax, who recently joined the team in September 2006.

Fun Facts! Did you know????....

Also, please welcome new EDS Mentor Protégé Program, Project Lead, Torian Richardson, who just recently joined the team in July 2006! Torian was a part of the Office of Small Business Suppliers at L-3 Communications Titan Corporation prior to coming on board at EDS…

Fun Facts! Did you know????....

Congratulations! EDS Mentor-Protégé Program, Project Lead, Nina Hardman, recently celebrated her 10-year anniversary with EDS.

Fun Facts! Did you know????....