Cyber Security Contractor
How We Got Started
i-VisioNET (ivisionet.com) started as a privately owned spin-up “.com” company in the year 2000. Although the company operates in many states today, I am from this area (my father is from Montgomery County and my mother is from Frederick County, so I grew up along the 270 corridor), so it seemed natural to headquarter my company in Maryland.
I first got into IT (information technology) shortly after leaving the military with a shoulder injury and going to school to be a computer programmer. When I graduated, I worked for two small IT companies (Microlog & Micornetics) as a software programmer and then was recruited by a large healthcare company named Principal Healthcare (now Coventry Health Care) and was quickly put in charge of some of their network operations in the Midwest.
The pathway towards entrepreneurship began while I worked as the IT Director of a small, minority-owned aerospace technology company (The Washington Consulting Group) located in the DC area. The company had several contracts with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), and this was my introduction to government contracting. The CEO was impressed by my work and said he wanted to start a dedicated IT company and make me the majority owner. He paid for the startup costs and helped the company get certified as an 8(a) business, and that’s how i-VisioNET was launched.
Our first contract was with his company as a subcontractor for the FAA. So that’s how I cut my teeth in government contracting as a CEO, learning firsthand from someone who’d had great success in the business. Several years later, the CEO of the aviation company cashed in his shares of i-VisioNET and retired to the Florida Keys. Since then, I have retained 100% control of the company.
i-VisioNET was awarded a State of Maryland contract in the early years that allowed us to work with a few large computer companies such as Dell, Gateway, and Foundry (at the time, a CISCO competitor of routers). That experience led us into network integration and soon after into the cybersecurity space after the 9/11 events.
How i-VisioNET Grew
We have grown steadily and organically over the years. Most of our business has come through my relationships in the industry. I consider relationship building to be a major part of growing a company. We have partnered with many of the large consulting companies like PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte, KPMG, Ernest & Young, and many others to perform on contract with the Department of Defense (DoD) and other Federal Civilian agencies, including The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health as well as many other government agencies.
We have had as many as 50 employees and many 1099 contractors at various times, and the typical length of our projects is 5 years.
Having the right corporate certifications has been vital for i-VisioNET’s growth. As a successful 8 (a) graduate and a recipient of the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council’s (CRMSDC) Top-100 MBE Award in 2019, i-VisioNET maintains its Federal Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) and HUBZone certification with the Small Business Administration (SBA), and a Minority Business Enterprise certification with Maryland (MBE) and Virginia (DBE). We are also a certified Local Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (LDBE) with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (LDBE), Montgomery County Minority Owned Business (MFD) and LSBRP, and we have the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council (CRMSDC) national certification.
Advice for Start-Ups and Early Stage Businesses in MoCo
My best advice would be to actively network and establish strong relationships. This has been the key to expanding my business. In the DMV area, contracting is very political, it’s all relationship-based and very competitive. You have to understand that there are dozens of other companies in this area that offer the same services, so my advice is to focus on what will make you stand out, what value you can add as a prime contractor, and how you resolve the customer’s pain points. To get a seat at the table, you have to have those relationships – and when you get there, when you get a shot, you still have to stand out. The most valuable thing is to perform exceptionally well and consistently. You’ve got to have integrity and a strong work ethic, and you must meet your deliverables, and then you’ll eventually develop your own pipeline of contacts and earn a reputation as a company that delivers.
i-VisioNET Today
Today, i-VisioNET is a Certified Small Minority Information Technology (IT) Cyber Security Services firm with offices in Montgomery County Maryland; Washington D.C.; Northern Virginia; South Florida; and Northern California; with Certified HUBZone offices in Maryland and DC. We have now been a trusted adviser in cyber security for more than 22 years. We are a CMMC-AB Registered Practitioner Organization (RPO), providing Risk Management, Security Awareness, Federal Regulatory Compliance Assessments, Cyber Security, CMMC Readiness, and Zero Trust Advisory Services to private companies as well as state, DoD, and federal government agencies.
