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Tag: Ashburn

DXC moves HQ to Ashburn, shifts to ‘virtual first’

Fortune 500 IT services company DXC Technology is leaving Tysons for a smaller headquarters in Ashburn in November, the company announced this week.

DXC’s new 10,000-square-foot building is located at One Loudoun in Ashburn.

The new corporate headquarters will reflect the shift to a virtual-first mentality. Employees can work from anywhere and use the office as more of a place to come together. It’s designed around collaboration, executives say.

DXC started thinking about being virtual-first before the pandemic, said Chris Drumgoole, DXC’s chief operating officer.

“As I joined just under two years ago…we were really stepping back and saying, ‘Hey, what do we want the future of the company to be and how do we want to attract talent, what do we think our footprint should be environmentally, kind of like the big picture. We’re a technology company at heart and can we act like one?'” Drumgoole said Wednesday in an interview with Virginia Business.

It’s almost entirely meeting and conference space, with offices for key executive officers.

“We are reimagining our new local corporate office in Ashburn to be a modern, open, and inspiring workplace to foster both in-office and remote collaboration among colleagues, and with customers, while providing multiple activity-based spaces and state-of-the-art technology and meeting rooms,” DXC spokesman Rich Adamonis said in a statement.

DXC has several hundred employees in the greater Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia area; some will work on site and others will have access when needed. Fewer will work there on a permanent basis.

“Over the past two years, as we looked at ways to improve employee engagement and experience, we have moved to a virtual first environment locally and globally,” Adamonis said in a statement. “Today, approximately 99% of DXC’s global workforce is equipped to work virtual first.  Ours is a now largely distributed, remote workplace where our people throughout the world are enabled to work remotely and flexibly and, when needed, to access purpose-built offices—whatever best fits their needs.”

DXC has more than 130,000 employees worldwide.

The company was founded in 2017 after the merger of Computer Science Corp. and the Enterprise Services business of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Corp. In October 2020, DXC finalized the sale of its health business to Veritas Capital for $5 billion, which the company planned to use to reduce its debt by about $3.5 billion. Last week, DXC completed its refinancing actions, according to a news release from the company.

In fiscal 2021, the company had $17.7 billion in revenue.

In August, DXC promoted Drumgoole to executive vice president and chief operating officer. That change came about a year after a major leadership overhaul across the company.

Earlier this year, DXC turned down an unsolicited and non-binding offer from a French company to buy all of its shares.

Telos Corp. acquires Alabama biometric software company

Ashburn-based cybersecurity firm Telos Corp. has acquired Alabama-based biometric software company Diamond Fortress Technologies Inc., Telos announced Monday.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The acquisition adds patents to Telos’ biometric and digital identity intellectual property. Telos will integrate DFT’s ONYX software into its platform. ONYX is a touchless fingerprinting software that uses a device’s camera to capture the user’s fingerprint.

Telos CEO and Chairman John Wood said in a statement, “We believe the acquisition of this patented touchless fingerprinting technology will allow us to eliminate much of the friction involved in biometrics data gathering for identity and access management and to better serve our growing customer base at both the enterprise and consumer levels.”

Telos has hired seven current DFT employees.

Telos reported $179.9 million in 2020 revenue, up from $159.2 million in 2019.

Ashburn-based Telos Corp. names new CFO

Ashburn-based cybersecurity firm Telos Corp. has appointed Mark Bendza as executive vice president and chief financial officer, the company announced Monday.

Bendza was previously the vice president of investor relations at software industrial company Honeywell International Inc.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Telos went public with a $254 million IPO in November.

“Mark brings a broad range of skills that will be important to us as a public company,” Telos CEO and chairman John B. Wood said in a statement. “I know his dedication to shareholders, customers and internal stakeholders, as well as to achieving our growth objectives, will be critical to our future success.”

Bendza succeeds Michele Nakazawa, who served as Telos CFO for more than 17 years. Nakazawa, who will be preparing to retire, will stay on with the company on the senior executive team reporting to the CEO to help with the transition and will work on special projects.

“I have great respect for my predecessor, the entire executive team at Telos and their achievements, including the execution of the recent successful IPO,” Bendza said. “I am excited to build upon their successes and to focus on delivering the growth and financial performance that will generate shareholder returns for years to come.”

Washington Football Team names chief creative, digital officer

The Washington Football Team, in the middle of a major rebranding effort, has hired the organization’s first chief creative and digital officer, it announced Tuesday. Will Misselbrook will oversee the team’s brand marketing strategy and develop content for fans and sponsors, and he will report directly to team President Jason Wright.

“Will is an exceptional leader who can seamlessly blend fan-centric content with relevant and resonate brand integrations,” Wright said in a statement. “Considerable work has been done to improve our fans’ experience online and to expand our partnership offerings. Will’s role will be pivotal throughout our brand transformation as he brings unrivaled creative marketing experience on behalf of iconic brands and a track record of using original storytelling to engage digital communities.”

Misselbrook previously was global head of creative for custom content, creative marketing and original programming for The Trust, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s Group and Dow Jones Media Group, and he has held executive creative roles for Coach and Condé Nast Group, as well as working with several brands and advertising agencies. According to the Ashburn-based team, he will be the first C-suite member dedicated to digital or creative disciplines in the NFL.

“I’m very excited to join the industry-leading marketing, creative and digital groups at the Washington Football Team to help tell the team’s story in meaningful ways and to continue to strengthen our bond with fans,” Misselbrook said in a statement. “The team did a fantastic job of creating access at a time when it was needed more than ever to bring fans into the game day and football experiences online. We’ll look to extend that approach through more dynamic content and explore new, immersive opportunities to connect the team to the fanbase, partners, alumni and our entire community.”

The Washington Football Team, which retired the Redskins name and logo last year under pressure by sponsors, tapped a New York City-based marketing agency, Code and Theory, in February to help select a permanent team name and rebrand its look. The firm previously partnered with the team to come up with its interim “Football Team” branding and “No Name But Team” campaign.

In March, owner Daniel Snyder purchased 40.5% of its shares from his minority co-owners, giving him full control of the franchise. Meanwhile, the NFL has continued its investigation into sexual harassment and misconduct in the organization, which was reported last year by The Washington Post.

Ashburn-based CIS acquired by Indiana private equity firm

On April 20, Indianapolis-based private equity firm Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Co. Inc. (HKW) announced that it had acquired Ashburn-based technology company CIS Secure Computing Inc. (CIS) from Oklahoma City-based Acorn Growth Cos. LLC. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

CIS is a provider of secure and customized communications technologies that help prevent data leaks, tracking, eavesdropping and hacking. CIS has a portfolio of retrofitted voice over internet protocol (VoIP) phones, laptops, USB disconnects and conference equipment. The company provides hardware and software to the intelligence and law enforcement communities.

“We believe CIS has an established market share in an industry with compelling tailwinds,” said Luke Phenicie, lead transaction partner at HKW, in a statement. “We are excited about partnering with the CIS management team to help them elevate to the next level, including new product line additions and seeking new add-on acquisitions.”

Ashburn-based Telos Corp. names new vice president

Ashburn-based cybersecurity firm Telos Corp. has hired Troy M. Bertram as vice president to lead its global enterprise sales teams across state and local governments, education, regulated industries and commercial business verticals, it recently announced.

The company cited Bertram’s more than 25 years of experience in government and transformative technology companies. He’s a graduate of the University of Minnesota and earned his MBA from St. Edward’s University.

Bertram, a U.S. Army veteran, comes to Telos after serving as chief revenue officer of Saildrone Inc. He previously held management roles at Amazon Web Services and Dell Technologies.

“He will be instrumental in further developing our global business and channel strategy,” Telos Chairman and CEO John B. Wood said in a statement.

Telos went public with a $254 million IPO in November.

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Report: Snyder to purchase full control of Washington Football Team

Daniel Snyder is poised to purchase the remaining 40.5% of the Washington Football Team, which would give him full control of the NFL franchise, according to reporting by The New York Times on Wednesday.

The Ashburn-based NFL’s team owners are expected to approve a waiver next week that would allow Snyder to take on an additional $450 million in debt to pay the minority co-owners $875 million for their holdings. Snyder has been feuding with co-owners Dwight Schar, Robert Rothman and Frederick Smith, who bought into the team in 2003 but tried to sell their stakes last year, the Times reports. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, an NFL spokesman said the sale and the league’s investigation into sexual harassment and misconduct are “two separate matters,” and that an investigation by attorney Beth Wilkinson is continuing.

Earlier this month, a Washington, D.C.-based sports radio show, “The Sports Junkies,” reported that a leaked portion of Wilkinson’s report recommends that Snyder divest his 60% ownership of the team, or be suspended for six months. The Ashburn-based team has been at the center of controversy since last year over reports in The Washington Post of lewd videos taken of the team’s cheerleaders without their knowledge, which were later screened for team executives.

In December, The Washington Post reported that the team paid a female former employee $1.6 million in a confidential settlement in 2009 after she accused Snyder of sexual misconduct. According to the leaked report, the alleged incident occurred on Snyder’s private plane. December’s news came after bombshell allegations by 15 women who said they were sexually harassed when they worked for the team during Snyder’s tenure as majority owner since 1999. Several Washington Football executives were fired in the wake of the August report.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decided a few days later, at the end of August, that the league would take over the investigation into the team, which  launched its own third-party probe.

Also last August, Snyder went to court and accused Schar of spreading negative information about him to potentially force him to sell his majority stake in the team, which he purchased in 1999. In July 2020, the team bowed to corporate pressure and announced it would drop its former name, the Redskins, which was broadly seen as discriminatory and derogatory against Native Americans, and said it would choose a new name after months of discussion and public input.

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Ashburn contractor names chief technical officer for product suite

Ashburn-based government contractor ID Technologies LLC announced Tuesday it has promoted Michael Maice to be its new chief technical officer for its portfolio of Archon line cloud storage and data security products.

Maice will oversee Archon’s product development strategy and evaluate new technology for the offering, as well as advise customers on technical matters related to the National Security Agency’s Commercial Solutions for Classified Program.

He previously served as chief technology officer for the U.S. military’s Joint Communications Support Element, and as a chief warrant officer at the U.S. Army and technical director for network visualization efforts at Army Cyber Command. He joined ID Technologies last year as a senior solutions architect.

“As we accelerate our investment into the Archon platform, to scale getting this technology into the hands of the warfighter, Mike will be paramount to our success. Mike understands the challenges our mission customers face in enterprise adoption of secure remote access capabilities,” said Chris Oliver, CEO of ID Technologies, in a statement.

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Vt. company buys Ashburn bioscience tech firm

Williston, Vermont-based bioscience software company MBF Bioscience announced last week it has acquired Ashburn-based Vidrio Technologies. 

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.  

Vidrio Technologies provides microscope control software and hardware for laser scanning while MBF Bioscience provides microscope-based image analysis tools to researchers.

“Vidrio has a pipeline full of exciting new products that we can’t wait to show our customers,” Vidrio Technologies Senior Software Engineer Georg Jaindl said in a statement. “By joining forces with MBF, we will be able to build these tools for our customers faster and provide even more responsive technical support than our customers already receive.”

 

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Report: Washington Football Team probe recommends Snyder divest ownership

“The Sports Junkies,” a Washington, D.C.-based sports radio show, reported Friday that an attorney investigating the Washington Football Team has recommended majority owner Daniel Snyder divest his ownership of the NFL team.

The show’s hosts at WJFK 106.7 FM The Fan said they received parts of a report written by Beth Wilkinson, the lawyer conducting the NFL’s investigation into the Ashburn-based team, which came under fire last year over reports in The Washington Post of lewd videos taken of the team’s cheerleaders without their knowledge, which were later screened for team executives.

In December, The Washington Post reported that the team paid a female former employee $1.6 million in a confidential settlement in 2009 after she accused Snyder of sexual misconduct. According to the leaked report, the alleged incident occurred on Snyder’s private plane. December’s news came after bombshell allegations by 15 women who said they were sexually harassed when they worked for the team during Snyder’s tenure as majority owner since 1999. Several Washington Football executives were fired in the wake of the August report.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decided a few days later, at the end of August, that the league would take over the investigation into the team, which had launched its own third-party probe.

“Sports Junkies” host Eric Bickel said on the show that Wilkinson presented multiple options to punish Snyder, who is also accused of trying to cover up details of the suit. In November, the team’s former general counsel sued Wilkinson to stop her from revealing information from the settlement.

If Snyder’s not forced to sell his part of the team, Wilkinson recommends Snyder’s suspension for several months, Bickel said. Separate from the NFL probe, Snyder has been battling his team’s three co-owners in court over their desire to sell their minority shares of the team to investors in California who offered $900 million. However, Snyder blocked the sale and is trying to buy 25% of the minority shares. The case is in arbitration.

Snyder purchased the team in 1999 from Jack Kent Cooke’s estate for $800 million. Although the team’s record has been mostly undistinguished during that time, the former Washington Redskins were a consistently popular draw until very recently, and in 2019, the team had the seventh-highest NFL team valuation at $3.4 billion, according to Forbes. In July, the team bowed to corporate sponsors’ pressure and announced it would drop its former name, which was broadly seen as discriminatory and derogatory against Native Americans, and said it would choose a new name after months of discussion and public input.

In early February, Goodell said that Wilkinson was closing in on completion of her investigation of the team and said that her findings will be shared with the team and others, while not saying whether they would be made public.

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