2020 Reflections & 2021 Outlook

January 14, 2021

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CSS Federal’s mission is to foster better use of technology to the government and its citizens. Every day, we are motivated to positively impact our customers and their stakeholders. Our work matters, and we’re truly honored to:

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• Assure trillions of daily transactions to hospitals across the country under Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS);

• Ensure the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Services Agency (FSA) sends the right payments to the right farmers, especially farmers who are affected by COVID-19 and are in need of aid;

• Touch and help secure every system in the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM);

• Assist $1,000,000,000 in daily transactions within the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Office of The Chief Financial Office (OCFO)

• Support the nationwide population study of tobacco and health under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA);

• Provide cybersecurity support for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is responsible for protecting consumers and families from products.

 

As CSS Federal looks back at 2020, we contemplate the many changes our world and our company have both persevered through, and embraced. CSS Federal Founder & CEO Hetel Patel reflects on the year, “Our people successfully transitioned to working remotely, and we regrouped as a team to support one another while also continuing to deliver excellence to our customers’ critical missions. We realized that our work is more important than ever, and the impact we have on our community is greater than ever before.”

 

Internally, we are preparing for another year of tremendous growth. CSS Federal Chief Growth Officer Dan Waddell adds, “We’ve taken countless steps and strides towards strengthening and elevating our team, capabilities, partners, and qualifications.” Some of the accomplishments we achieved in 2020 include:

 

Winning Work that Matters

CSS Federal’s USDA Farm Service Agency Program Manager Sandhya Shivashankar reflects, “In 2020, we successfully supported six different programs and 24 applications in four months, responsible for delivering defect-free code in the pursuit of serving America’s farmers, ranchers, and producers.”

 

We’re also bringing new technologies and advancements to government. CSS Federal HHS CMS FMSG Program Manager Scott Granieri says, “We initiated our first foray into the world of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and helped identify and develop two important proofs of concept to demonstrate the capability of automation to reduce cycle times, eliminate manual errors, and improve overall employee morale. Looking into 2021, our team is targeting the implementation of those solutions and applying our lessons learned to continue realizing significant return on their investment. Introducing RPA to our customers is just one more way that we at CSS Federal are living by our corporate motto of Innovating for Change.”

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Proving that Excellence is Our Standard

This year, we proudly achieved re-certification for ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/IEC 27001:2013 for our Quality Management System. In addition, CSS Federal successfully underwent the re-appraisal process to receive a Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Maturity Level 3 rating for Development Version 1.3.

 

Partnering for the Future

In 2020, CSS Federal solidified partnerships with Google Cloud to further enable and innovate our Cloud solutions, and UiPath, a global software company that develops a platform for robotic process automation.

 

Growing Responsibly, from the Inside Out

To lead our growth efforts, we added a Chief Growth Officer, Dan Waddell, a seasoned IT and cybersecurity executive with more than 25 years of experience supporting the federal government. Mr. Waddell joined CSS Federal having built several successful business units and holds a strong track record in developing and leading diverse, multi-disciplinary teams to protect information and achieve business goals.

 

Additionally, we are proud to say throughout 2020, we brought the following best-in-class, talented individuals on our team:

 

Vivian Bamags

Ashley Blount

Shaon Borosha

Richard Brummer

Joshua Fierbaugh

Louis Fouejieu

Matthew Garcia

Donna Green

Poornima Krishnamachari

Wayne Larson

Meghan Lynch-McCall

Rafael Portela Ortiz

Chhimi Sherpa

Sandhya Shivashankar

Alexandra Tobolsky

Shannon Warren

 

To complement and sustain our goals, we dedicated our resources and attention to several key programs, including Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), continued education, community outreach, and branding and marketing. Human Resources Manager Ashley Blount is leading CSS Federal’s D&I program, “CSS Federal is committed to diversity! From the top-down, our team ensures that we treat one another with respect and understand that the varying cultures, races, and ethnic groups of our team members is the foundation of our success. We intend to preserve a safe atmosphere for our employees, and we look forward to seek opportunities that build an inclusive workforce, support our local community and celebrate diversity.”

 

This past year, CSS Federal team members gave back to their communities through supporting the Tigerlily Foundation, a national breast cancer foundation providing education, awareness, advocacy, and hands-on support to young women before, during, and after breast cancer. Our Chief Growth Officer Dan Waddell presented cybersecurity career advice to Bowie State students during an interactive September webinar. We look forward to expanding our #CSSforChange give-back initiatives this year.

 

Looking Forward in 2021

This year, we are excited to continue cultivating four main strategic areas, including:

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Inspiring Culture, through our EAGLE Core Values, D&I efforts, and career development

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Operational Excellence, through investing in additional staffing and infrastructure

 

Innovative Solutions, through specialized partnerships and innovative service offerings; and

 

Annual Growth, through resource investment, certification efforts such as Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, and increasing the breadth of our contracts portfolio.

 

CSS Federal thanks everyone who has helped us achieve so much in 2020, and positively impact so many lives. If you’re looking to be a part of something bigger this year, we’d love to work with you, team up, or welcome you to our team. We look forward to serving our customers, impacting our communities, and Innovating for Change in 2021 and beyond!

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