Tag: XLA

2-29-16 – XLA Supports Women in Homeland Security Charity – Silver Sponsor for a Mardi Gras Silent Auction

XLA had the privilege last week of being a Silver Sponsor for a Mardi Gras Silent Auction to raise funds for charity

Each year, Women in Homeland Security selects a charity that supports those who work in homeland security and raises funds throughout the year.  This year’s beneficiary is the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund is dedicated to honoring and remembering the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers.  Over 180 industry and government folks joined us to celebrate, bid on their favorite items and spend some time with the full spectrum of homeland security officials, first responders and officers to raise money for the homeland community.  Special thanks to Stephanie Iwasiw and Brooke Fowler for assembling an awesome “Taste of the DMV” gift basket that XLA donated for the silent auction.

1-7-16 – XLA Names New CEO, Founder to Chair Board of Directors

Tysons, Virginia (January 7, 2016) – Tysons based XLA today announced the appointment of Gary Slack as their new President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Slack will lead the company’s strategy and business plan execution, focusing on corporate growth. XLA’s founder and former CEO, Lloyd M. Mustin II, will assume the role of Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Slack has more than 30 years experience building and leading service organizations in the government contracting industry. Most recently he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of QinetiQ North America (QNA), a $1 billion, 3,500 person company with multiple locations across the US and OCONUS. Mr. Slack led QNA through the successful sale of its services and solutions business to the SI Organization/Veritas Capital, now Vencore. He was responsible for the company’s overall day-to-day operations and originally joined QNA as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Prior to that, Mr. Slack spent 13 years with BAE Systems, Inc. serving most recently as President of its U.S. Combat Systems business, where he stood up and directed operations of a new $4 billion line of business employing 9,000 people at 23 sites across the US and OCONUS. During his tenure at BAE Systems, Inc. the company acquired multiple businesses in the areas of technical services, information technology, information solutions, electronic solutions, platform production programs, experiencing overall revenue growth from $2 billion to approximately $20 billion. Prior to his appointment as President, he served as CFO. In addition, he served on the Board of Directors of BAE Systems AB (Sweden) from 2007, remaining as its Chairman until March 2009.

Prior to joining BAE Systems, Mr. Slack was the director of group finance for TRW’s Systems & Information Technology Group. He has also held positions with BDM International, Inc., Honeywell Federal Systems, Inc. and the Virginia Department of Taxation. Mr. Slack holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from Longwood University.

Chairman and Founder Lloyd Mustin said, “We could not be more thrilled to have Gary lead our team. He brings with him a uniquely impressive track record of success in our market sectors. I am confident he will expand on the strong foundation we have built over the last 26 years – taking XLA to new heights.”

CEO Gary Slack added, “XLA has an impressive team, who has perfected a unique set of service offerings that are highly sought after in the government contracting space. I look forward to applying my experience to help accelerate our growth.”

About XLA

XLA is a leading provider of program and systems lifecycle management, financial management, engineering and technical solutions, and international program-support services to the Federal government. The company has more than 25 years of experience supporting mission-critical requirements for Federal agencies. XLA is a platform company of private equity firm The Halifax Group.

To learn more about XLA, visit www.xla.com.

For further information contact Cynthia Andrews at candrews@xla.com or call (703) 848-0400.

 

8-13-15 – News – The BCAT IRB Survival Kit

BCAT The IRB Survival Kit

The most stressful part of building or enhancing an IT system, arguably, is not programming, but successfully surviving the IT Investment Review Board (IRB) and other milestone requirements. Engineers and programmers are expected to write and promote a business case for a project while being thrown into a sea of laws, regulations and policies that threaten to delay the entire effort. Getting through IRBs for back office systems development projects can be particularly hard because less experienced staff assigned to these smaller projects may not get through the IRB as easily, adding rework and delaying projects.

Raise the chances of surviving your IRB within your timeline and with your sanity intact. Use these tips to build your own “survival kit” and stay focused on developing systems instead of building strategies.

Train, Train, Train. Each member of your team needs to know what to expect at the IRB before you begin writing your business case. Understanding why the IRB exists and its goals makes the process more positive and provides each writer with a common vision. Instruction and coaching on business case structure, costing and CPIC provides a common foundation and investment process language so that everyone sounds like an expert. Lastly, reviewing the laws, regulation and policies will dramatically reduce your risk of non-compliance—the most common reason that investments fail the IRB.

Create a Repository of Success. Providing a repository of successful business cases helps the team understand the end goal and a consistent approach brings structure to your business case and presentation. Include a list of successful stakeholders in your repository–when you are backed up by all of your stakeholders, your business case will be iron clad.

Practice ‘Till You Drop. Never go into an IRB without practicing your presentation, a script and multiple team practices. Consider using a video camera to record your presentation, allowing you to truly evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Rehearsals may reveal that your initial presentation is not effective, so don’t get frustrated if it must be rewritten from scratch. Your rewrite will get your message across clearly and with impact.

Don’t Forget the Cheat Sheet. Expect the IRB to ask all the tough questions. Be ready with a comprehensive list of answers and decide beforehand who will speak about which topic. Review and quiz each other about these details before the IRB so that the notes are needed only for the most complex issues. Be careful to organize answers in a logical manner—nothing increases stress like dead silence while shuffling through papers at an IRB.

Consult with the Experts. XLA’s BCAT team has taken multiple Federal programs and IT systems through successful IRBs in less than three months. Their proven Investment Review Framework, which includes more than 50 templates, instruction and one-on-one coaching, imparts a big picture view to your team, helping you survive and fly through any IRB review. Learn more about BCAT at www.xla.com/BCAT.