making_the_teamarlen

Entrepreneurship a plus for Alion's small partners

AVW Technologies Inc. was a one-man shop six years ago when Alion Science andTechnology Corp. tapped it for a Navy acquisition project. Now AVW, a veteran-owned small business based in Chesapeake, Va., has about 50 employees and handles a variety of testing, evaluation support and engineering management programs for Alion.

  • By Gary Arlen

Follow the hot spots

Open source, virtualization and other emerging tech needs fuel opportunities for Sun's partners.

  • By Gary Arlen

Playing the partner game

Microsoft searches for small resellers.

  • By Gary Arlen

Focus is key

Cisco Systems Inc.'s manager of federal channel operations Chris Marin vows that he will read any proposal or statement of qualifications that comes his way.

  • By Gary Arlen

Know your strengths

Vangent supplies systems integration and other services to defense and civilian agencies with a focus on health care, and now the company is looking for partners with the right skills and location.

  • By Gary Arlen

The Boeing challenge

John Blacknall is blunt about how small businesses should go about partnering withBoeing Co. "Just by registering on [our] Web site, the chances are slim" that a small business will get a call to participate in Boeing's $7.3 billion worth of federalcontracts.

  • By Gary Arlen
Find opportunities — and win them.
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Gary Arlen | Tailor made

Harris is looking for small businesses to handle tasks ranging from geospatial engineering to cable subassembly. Its small-business-supplier Web site is the best way for companies to initiate contact.

  • By Gary Arlen

Beyond courtship

Bechtel has found some unexpected ways to further the company's strategies. For example, it sent some of its DOD small-business advocates to a DOE conference. The advocates found new partners to help with DOD projects.

  • By Gary Arlen

Looming large at Fluor

Many Fluor projects exceed small-business targets, usually because of the scale of the projects and the ongoing changes in requirements, especially for overseas activities.

  • By Gary Arlen

More than a reputation

Credibility keeps popping up in discussions with Keith Kellogg, executive vice president of CACI International Inc.'s mission systems group. By his definition, credibility includes reputation and agility.

  • By Gary Arlen

Leading by example

Abbas Yazdani, founder and CEO of Artel, could delegate the hunt for alliances to other officers. But he often chooses to lead the quest himself, as he did recently at the DISA Customer Partnership Conference.

  • By Gary Arlen

Dell draws in small-biz partners

Dell uses feedback to build partnerships.

  • By Gary Arlen

L-3's small-business partners roll with the changes

When a contractor changes its name three times in 18 months, something big is probably afoot. At L-3 Communications Corp., the $12 billion company that has been acquiring and reorganizing its government contracting units, the changes add to the challenges as well as the opportunities for prospective small-business partners.

  • By Gary Arlen
Featured eBooks

Gary Arlen | Come in, come ready

Raytheon's approach to partners includes Web sites, demonstration centers and preparation.

  • By Gary Arlen

Matchmaker IBM brings together agencies and small contractors

Lillian Karuri-Magero likes to solve problems. As small-business liaison officer for IBM Corp.'s public sector programs, Karuri-Magero recently stopped by the Agriculture, Defense, Education and Interior departments as well as the Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs departments. Her objective: Help agencies match IT projects with IBM's small-business providers.

  • By Gary Arlen

Gary Arlen | Making the team: What you need

Large primes want partners who do their homework and have skills, flexibility and relationships with critical customers.

  • By Gary Arlen

Longtime partners, long-term projects

Perot Systems favors nimble allies to tackle performance-based deals.

  • By Gary Arlen

Making the Team | Constantly seeking partners

The newly reshaped Verizon Business Federal unit has embraced the program as a tool to recruit small-business alliances for its projects.

  • By Gary Arlen

'We want them to approach us'

If RS Information Systems Inc.'s federal contracts were a remake of the movie "A Star Is Born," 1 Source Consulting Inc. would play the title role: the character who starts out in a supporting part but quickly is tapped to headline the show.

  • By Gary Arlen

Past is prologue for GD partners

Lynwood Owens is deep in discussions with a woman-owned 8(a) business that for the past seven years has worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development. The contract is coming up for recompete at year's end, and Owens, a program manager at General Dynamics Network Systems, sees a change in how the smaller company handles the contract: It would become the prime contractor to USAID, and the General Dynamics unit would be its subcontractor.

  • By Gary Arlen

BAE uses team approach to build small-business alliances

Every month, the IT group for BAE Systems North America Inc. invites about three dozen small-business partners to a Homeland Security Department trusted forum. They discuss issues and trends, and identify emerging opportunities as well as share best practices.

  • By Gary Arlen