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Contract Vehicles: SeaPort-e
July 08 2010
NWC Contract N00178-11-D-6581 and includes three (3) zones: Zone 2-National Capital Zone Zone 3-Mid-Atlantic Zone Zone 4- Gulf ZoneNaval Sea Systems Command Seaport Enhanced (SeaPort-e) Contracts are designed to include all aspects of professional support services required by NAVSEA, its related Program Executive Offices (PEOs), Naval Warfare...
July 08 2010
NWC Contract N00178-11-D-6581 and includes three (3) zones: Zone 2-National Capital Zone Zone 3-Mid-Atlantic Zone Zone 4- Gulf ZoneNaval Sea Systems Command Seaport Enhanced (SeaPort-e) Contracts are designed to include all aspects of professional support services required by NAVSEA, its related Program Executive Offices (PEOs), Naval Warfare...
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Pearson VUE
Pearson VUE provides a full suite of services from test development to data management, and delivers exams through the world’s most comprehensive and secure network of test centers in 165 countries.
Prometric
The leading global provider of comprehensive testing and assessment services.
- Contract Vehicles: SeaPort-e
NWC Contract N00178-11-D-6581 and includes three (3) zones:
Zone 2-National Capital Zone
Zone 3-Mid-Atlantic Zone
Zone 4- Gulf Zone
Naval Sea Systems Command Seaport Enhanced (SeaPort-e) Contracts are designed to include all aspects of professional support services required by NAVSEA, its related Program Executive Offices (PEOs), Naval Warfare Centers and field activities. NAVSEA Seaport Enhanced Contracts provide vehicles to procure professional support services for authorized users in 21 functional areas. These services are available through all phases of ship and weapon system life cycle - technology development, concept exploration, design, specification development, construction/production, test and evaluation, certification, operation, maintenance, improvement/modernization, overhaul and refueling, salvage and disposal.
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Task OrdersIntellecTechs' Quality Program
The IntellecTechs' Quality Program combines quality philosophy and management systems to focus on the following key issues: (1) customer satisfaction, (2) continuous process improvement, and (3) people involvement.
Our IntellecTechs' credo, corporate objectives, and the corporate policy on technical quality all emphasize the importance and priority of achieving high quality and technical excellence. At IntellecTechs, quality performance means two things. First, our products and services must meet or exceed the specified requirements, at the agreed-on price and within schedule. Second, the company and our employees must continuously improve our processes so that our work meets requirements without error and is done right the first time.
From IntellecTechs' inception, quality performance has been emphasized as the most important corporate goal. We have a Corporate Quality Officer who coordinates the IntellecTechs' quality management system. Every IntellecTechs' project has a disciplined approach to implement quality standards in order to ensure that the end product or service satisfies the customer's requirements. Our Quality Center of Excellence provides a forum for the community of IntellecTechs' quality practitioners to exchange knowledge, experience and ideas. A document repository is available to support quality practitioners.
Slow economy is time to invest in employees
Article Link: Slow economy is time to invest in employeesWith budget cuts and slimmer employee populations, some businesses may slash the training budget. On the other hand, some companies are finding that the very people they let go are the ones who had the most IT skills and were the subject matter experts.
Sales teams without adequate computer skills are struggling with demands to use customer-based programs and enter their own sales and relationship data. Overall, regardless of the industry, there is the need to produce more, faster, with people who were already behind in the basics of Outlook and Excel.
According to a study by ISMG in September 2009, 62 percent of respondents will seek new certifications in 2010 and 79 percent of their organizations will continue to fund the training at least partially. One reason for investing in computer training during a bad economy is so that you don't lose your best employees. If you follow the classic ratio of 80 percent of your business is accomplished by 20 percent of your workforce, it makes sense to invest in them, but you can bet that the other 80 percent needs training to utilize your technology more effectively.
A couple of trends are important in assuring that Hampton Roads remains a healthy business community. With unemployment still high, many job seekers know they need retraining or new skills to compete but don't have the funds for training. Businesses are tempted to hire at a lower starting pay and find quick fixes for computer training. At the same time, stimulus money will create new IT startup companies for retraining adults that won't really be qualified to train. The result will be wasted time and wasted money. Secondly, companies cutting IT budgets will jeopardize their client relationships, revenue and eventually their ability to grow. Every IT problem has a solution but getting to it by trial and error without technical expertise will increase outsourcing costs. Having employees who know what they are doing saves money.
In addition to balancing the training budget, managers and business owners have to analyze individual needs to determine the type of training program to implement. One trend is just-in-time training that reduces the gap between the time the training is given and when the employee will have enough opportunity to practice and master the skills.
Regardless of the advances with online training for IT skills, trends indicate that people still need an instructor. If you need additional resources to cover instruction, consider your specific needs, job functions and employee skills to identify the best type of training.
Here are questions to ask training entities:
- What kind of facility, classroom setup and equipment would be available to you? It is always good to do a site visit. Make sure that each attendee will have a computer. If you are taking a class for certification, ask if the facility is a Prometric and Pearson Vue Certified Test Center or its equivalent. Check out the safety of the location. Is there adequate parking?
- What are the options for scheduling training? You want to be sure the schedule offers breaks between training and practice exercises. Although some companies may want a one-day, eight-hour training, we encourage two- to four-hour sessions with time to practice before the next session. Find out if training is also available on Saturdays. We conducted training for salespeople in two-hour, small-group segments for Freedom Ford recently to best meet their needs.
- Are instructors certified? Not only should they be certified in the courses you are taking, they should have the philosophy that every student will learn the material, even if it means staying after the course ends to work in the lab.
- Can you audit the course once you have paid for the initial training? You or your employees may not have had an opportunity to use the new skills to the point of mastery. Auditing should be offered.
- What kind of materials and courseware does the company use? For example, at IntellecTechs, attendees are given practice software and data files to take home for practice at the end of their Microsoft Office courses. Prior to signing up for a course, always ask for a syllabus. When your office is upgrading equipment, always ask if training is part of the integration costs.
- Who would be the other students in your class and what are the class sizes? Even if you are attending a course alone or with a small group from your company, you should know who else will be in the class. With a ratio of no more than 12-1, you should receive attention and have your questions addressed.
Jeri Prophet is founder and CEO of IntellecTechs, a company specializing in training, networking, hosting, security and Web design. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 962-2487.
Selling on Facebook: Use social media to promote your business
The first step in promoting a business through social media is to make time to do it, said Janet Wagner, associate professor of marketing and director of the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland in College Park.
"This is a big issue for owners of a small business," Wagner said. "They are pressed for time, but if they are really interested in growing their business, then they need to set aside time for this, even if it is just an hour a day."
Kathryn Lively, manager of social media for Spider Writers, a division of web-design firm Ciniva Systems in Virginia Beach, recommended six steps for small businesses that want to connect with the public through social media:
If you do receive unfavorable comments from a social-media user, Wagner suggests reacting in an unemotional and positive way.
"If someone posts they had a bad experience with your company, let them know you are really sorry and offer to fix it," she said. "And be prepared that this could happen." Online portal featuring additional small business news and information coming soon.>> All content produced under the direction of the news team of Inside Business.
IntellecTechs' President, Jeri Prophet selected for Hampton Roads Top Forty Under 40
Home and family Virginia Beach; fiancé and three children, two 15-year-olds and a 4-year-old.
Volunteer activities I have worked with Executive Women International’s Hampton Roads Chapter since 2004, first serving as sergeant-at-arms and presently serving my second term as treasurer. My team at IntellecTechs is in the early stages of developing a Web site that will mentor veterans back into the civilian workplace and/or help existing ones find jobs. I also provide seminars on different business topics to a large number of organizations.
How do you balance your time? It is not easy, that’s for sure. I have a great support system in place that allows me to be a mother, run a business, volunteer, attend school fulltime, write and exercise. I think the most important thing to do is to set limits and live in the now.
How do you choose your volunteer activities? I never turn down the chance to speak to a group of parents, no matter how small or how large. I want the public to be educated on both the benefits and dangers that information technology poses, especially where it concerns our children.
Advice for young people in the workforce Love what you do and never give up. Find someone to push you to your limits and help you grow. Remember to treat people the way you want to be treated and be careful not to burn bridges.
Your proudest accomplishment My children. They are wonderful. One of my sons spent the summer working with me, and I received great feedback. Also, growing the business to where we are at this point makes me very proud.
Professional goal in the next five years To grow the company and create jobs for Hampton Roads. I want this company to provide a workplace that people love to come to each day.
The biggest factor in your success My family has definitely been the biggest factor in my success. My father raised me in the business world in a little café in Colorado. My fiancé was the driving force in allowing me to make this huge leap into owning my own business. I could not have done this without the team we have here at IntellecTechs.
If you could change one thing about Hampton Roads I would have to say I would change the traffic. Sometimes it makes it a little rough to get where you need to be because it is so unpredictable.
Downtime My family and I love to watch the Carolina Tar Heels. One of my sons plans on attending UNC in a few years, so we are practicing.
What gets under your skin? People who think they cannot make a difference and say the words “cannot be done,” especially when it comes to technology. It can always be done, somehow or some way. We live in a technological age .
How To Select An IT Vendor
Most businesses have struggled at least once every few years with scenarios that have wasted time and money, possibly even sabotaging business goals and customer relationships, by hiring the wrong IT vendors. Perhaps your brother’s recommendation panned out to have the wrong experience to support your IT needs. Or, you may have selected a vendor who gave unrealistically low estimates just to get a foot in the door and then presented reasons for additional budget, leaving the operations manager or CIO no choice but to sign the next invoice to save face or explain away why he was over budget. The reasons for selecting a particular IT vendor are numerous and may be based on the wrong assumptions. The results are often due to inadequate planning or lack of attention once the papers are signed.Sometimes businesses just don’t have the processes in place internally to manage the contract when they decide to hire an IT vendor, leading to a disastrous relationship. Even before assessing an outsourcer’s capabilities, you need to accurately identify your current state and have a pretty good idea of the scope of the IT needs to be outsourced. This kind of due diligence will prevent the risk of poor performance, future disagreements and the cost and disruption of having to renegotiate or terminate the contract.
One of the most frequent scenarios I hear involves the handling of maintenance of the IT system, network, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), or other services. According to an article on CIO.com titled Five Tips to Create a Recession-Proof ERP Vendor Strategy written by Thomas Wailgum, January 14, 2009, Forrester Research VP and principal analyst Ray Wang found that out of more than 400 customers, many spend $500,000 on maintenance but call support only five times annually. Obviously, the usage does not correlate to the cost.
Of course, responsibility for maintenance contracts should fall on both parties. I believe one of the first priorities for selecting the right IT vendor focuses on how well the vendor will handle the relationship. If you are not receiving regular reports and communications about the maintenance of your IT systems, don’t assume that your IT vendor is maintaining your assets and the applications which support your marketing, billing, human resources, and other critical components of your business. Will you receive regular information on security patches, notices on expired security or updates on backups to your system? Don’t assume these services, but these are the expectations you should have for your IT vendor.
If you are seeing your vendor’s IT technician once a month, you can be sure your vendor is not focused on preventive maintenance. Since most small and mid-sized companies have limited in-house IT resources, it is important to have a vendor who is focusing on what could happen to your network, systems, and equipment. Take a look around your office one day soon to see how much dust you can find around your computers. We have invested in a specialized electronics vacuum which we use for regularly scheduled visits to clean IT equipment, resulting in fewer repairs, replacements, and downtime. From something as simple as this to ongoing network maintenance, your IT vendor should provide measures which assist you to protect your business.
Here are a few additional considerations:
- Check references thoroughly.
It is critical to know that the vendor has the capacity to carry out the work and that the company is financially stable to fulfill the contract. Ask references why they use this vendor, what are the best and worst aspects of dealing with the staff, and the longevity of the relationship. Always give the vendor’s clients a clear understanding of the specific services you are seeking so that they can provide quality feedback. - Understand IT credibility.
Often business owners have a misconception about IT certifications. For example, in the dental industry, there are specific software certifications for products like SoftDent or Dentrix. Vendors who invest all of their money, energy, and training in such certifications often do not hold certifications such as Microsoft, leaving the client without the assurance of proper configuration for firewalls, password protection, or numerous other IT applications. Be sure to ask vendors if they are a certified Microsoft provider. If you find someone who isn’t certified, there is a reason, and you should consider other vendors. - Ask information on staffing.
What is the number and job function of employees? Knowing that employees who will be on-call are trained in all areas of the services you need assures you of the responsiveness you may need during emergencies. Additionally, look for a vendor who can explain their processes for the 24/7/365 days they include in their brochures to make sure they have adequate staffing. - Determine whether security expertise is a core competency.
No longer do companies define business continuity in terms of days or even hours, but in terms of point-in-time backups and instant recoveries. One of the most frightening times in running a business when data is lost from a hard drive, a network goes down, or there is a breach of data security. The best way to avoid these situations is to be sure that the IT vendor you select has the capabilities to help prevent such issues. Your vendor should require you to have a network diagram as part of your disaster plan along with a frequently updated inventory of serial numbers, laptop serial numbers, PDAs and other equipment. We have had situations where we have wiped a phone in five minutes, along with immediately calling the phone company to lock the account, because we maintained accurate client information.
Even for services such as web site design and SEO be sure you hire a vendor who understands the impact of poor management on your site. If vendors do not keep you up-to-date on hackers and scams, you do not want to hire them. Even how your domain name is purchased and managed can allow you to maximize the benefits of having a site or unfortunately, jeopardize your ability to use this valuable marketing or customer management tool. Find a vendor who knows how to prevent your domain from being stolen by a cyber squatter. In order to control the botnets who search sites for email addresses make sure your pages are encrypted. Ensure that your SEO Company is not practicing black hat tactics; for example, placing text which is invisible to humans but may be seen by the search engine. This could make Google see your site as untrustworthy which would be counterintuitive to the mission. - Attention to training.
IT professionals can easily get complacent about training once they have been in business for several years which can be unforgiving in our ever changing industry. Find a vendor with technicians who are stellar in training clients, and preferably, offer not only individual, but team training courses on a regular basis. We have team auditing on each other frequently for every service we offer. Whatever checks and balances an IT vendor uses, be sure some sort of monitoring is evident. These are just a few of the many aspects of hiring an IT vendor you should consider. Your due diligence will favor vendors who deliver value, quality, and predictability in the overall relationship.
The Dangers of Sexting
It should be no surprise that life is a lot different for girls in their tweens and teens than it was for us at their age. They may be too young to sign up for pole dancing, but many have been exposed to the exploits of idols such as Britney Spears since they were first climbing the jungle gym. Even if parents carefully regulate TV, DVDs, the Internet, and movies, young women have probably seen near-porno shots of the “girl next door,” easily available on their cell phones.We don’t even have to be raising girls to be concerned. When I heard about eighteen-year-old Phillip Alpert who made it on the sex offenders list for sending a naked photo of his 16-year-old girlfriend (which she had taken of herself) to dozens of people, I realized how easily it could happen to my sons.
According to a survey of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 39% of teens who responded, send or post sexually suggestive messages, and 48% reported receiving such messages. As an IT professional and business leader for the past 19 years, I have to ask what are we not doing in our society to mentor to young women who will be hitting the job market in just a few years. When we hear it takes a village to raise a child, we better be sure we know who is in the village.
There is a prevailing attitude today accepting such practices as sexting—sending sexually-charged language in text messages—as a fairly normal activity for teens. If we are to accept this, we can expect more incidences such as teenager Jesse Logan who committed suicide after being harassed and ridiculed over her photos.
We have to remember that the Y Generation women in our offi ces were often the early adopters of a look-at-me-the-hottie culture. Today subtle, yet sexy suggestions shared on My Space pages can mean the difference between getting into the college of their choice or being selected for a job.
Sometimes it takes a personal experience to understand how dangerous technology can be. When my twelve-year-old niece came to live with me one summer, she had access to our computers during the daytime while I was working. Shortly after she returned home, my brother asked if I knew a D.C. phone number and if my niece had met anyone while she was in Virginia Beach. His daughter lied, saying she met a fifteen-year-old boy, but her friend across the street revealed that she talked to someone a lot online while playing poker.
After months of investigation, we discovered the “boy” was actually 40-something and employed with the Federal Aviation Committee. He had even bought an airline ticket for her. Nailing the impersonator was just half the challenge. Convincing my niece that her “boyfriend” was not fifteen took months and caused her a great deal of mistrust with her family.
So how do we battle a culture which demoralizes young ladies? Here are just a few tips I have used when teaching the course “What Children are Doing When No One is Watching…”
- Know the threats to young girls today.
With city-wide activities, the Internet, and multiple entertainment venues, girls meet peers far beyond the neighborhood and their own schools. Today’s online gaming and gambling sites are used equally today by teen girls and boys. The psychological aspects of social networking (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and media such as You-tube) as to how many friends you have and what your fans think about you is just as dangerous as the time they spend on the computer. - Participate in technology at their level.
Rather than demand their passwords or take quick glances at the screen periodically (Remember, they are faster than you will ever be to hide what they don’t want you to see), set up your own account on MySpace and ask to be a friend. This gives you access to their page anytime. - Don’t assume anything.
Did you know you can learn to hack into a site on MySpace within minutes? That means the good, bad, and the ugly can learn everything about a teen whether it is factual information or not. That’s why I promote key logger programs which can capture every keystroke. - Encourage communications.
Too much knowledge is good! So often we don’t want to hear the language or broad ideas of young people because it doesn’t fit into our beliefs or interests. The more we can get our girls to talk about their day-to-day experiences and how they feel about them, the more we can share our viewpoints or, at least, encourage them to ask our opinions. Teenage girls need desperately to have trusted women they can talk to who may have a valuable perspective which is different or presented differently than what they hear from their peers. - Develop mentoring opportunities within your organization.
Teen girls need exposure to women who are successful and well liked without using their sexuality to get what they want and need. Developing values in venues other than MySpace, the neighborhood skating rink with its wide range of young adult influences, or the reality programs watched alone is critical for a society desperately needing to prepare young people for their futures.
Jeri Prophet is founder and CEO of IntellecTechs, a company specializing in training, networking, hosting, security, and web design. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 757-962-2487.
Industry News
Selling on Facebook: Use social media to promote your business
February 21 2011
Social media is more than just a way for old and new friends to connect. It is an inexpensive form of advertising for small businesses to softly promote their products and services.The first step in...
February 21 2011
Social media is more than just a way for old and new friends to connect. It is an inexpensive form of advertising for small businesses to softly promote their products and services.The first step in...
- [ Slow economy is time to invest in... ]
March 19 2010 - [ The Dangers of Sexting ]
January 20 2010
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