Work That Matters Archives — ľAV /category/work-that-matters/ Powerful solutions for a complex world Mon, 06 May 2024 22:27:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 /wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Red-Mark-600px@2x-100x100.png Work That Matters Archives — ľAV /category/work-that-matters/ 32 32 Work That Matters: Adam Tischler on Winning Elastic’s Certified Professional of the Year Award /ecs-insight/ecs-culture/work-that-matters-adam-tischler-on-winning-elastics-certified-professional-of-the-year-award/ Wed, 01 May 2024 11:00:54 +0000 http://ecstech.flywheelstaging.com/?p=29291 Adam Tischler talks about his work on the CDM Dashboard and his recent Elastic Excellence Award.

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When dreaming about the career he desired, Adam Tischler always wanted two things: to serve others and to make an impact. As a cybersecurity operations leader at ľAV, he feels like he’s achieved those goals. Adam works on the continuous diagnostics and mitigation (CDM) dashboard for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which serves to strengthen our nation’s cybersecurity posture. Recently, he received Elastic’s Certified Professional of the Year award during their company’s annual excellence ceremony.

Q: You recently were named Elastic’s Certified Professional of the Year, an award that recognizes excellence in and contributions to the Elastic platform. What does that award mean to you?

A: I am extremely honored to be named Elastic’s Certified Professional of the Year. I could not have won the award without the support and mentorship from my ľAV peers and leadership. They pushed me to grow my skills, develop my career, and become the professional I am today.

I should also mention the role ľAV’ amazing training benefits played! These benefits helped me seek out and develop new skills including all the Elastic certifications: Elastic Certified Engineer (ECE), Elastic Certified Analyst (ECA), and Elastic Certified Observability Engineer (ECOE). In fact, ľAV has the most Elastic-certified professionals outside of Elastic! I’m proud to have helped contribute to that.

This award energizes me to continue that growth. I want to bring everyone to the party now!

ADAM TISCHLER
2023 Certified Professional of the Year

Q: How does the CDM dashboard help strengthen our nation’s cybersecurity posture?

A: When people think of protecting our nation’s cybersecurity, they often think of the data of the FBI, NSA, or the military. But non-DoD agencies also harbor a wealth of data and knowledge. Picture the Department of Health, the Department of Education, or the Department of the Interior.

These federal civilian agencies serve important missions but are not necessarily experts in security. That is where the CDM Dashboard comes in. Designed and maintained by ľAV, the CDM dashboard is a CISA-owned tool that helps provide visibility over systems and assess an agency’s security posture.

Q: You pride yourself on your ability to merge technical expertise with approachable communication skills. How has this skill impacted your career and why do you find it important?

A: I try to speak like a human when it comes to demonstrating and explaining technical concepts. This idea drives how I communicate with people across our company and government, and I see the impact of this in my work: it has strengthened my ability to serve customers and buoys their response.

Being able to explain concepts in an approachable way, however, requires I understand the technical aspects of a tool or system. The two skillsets exist in tandem, and for any young tech professionals looking to succeed in this field, I think it’s critical not to overlook communication skills in your career development!

“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world.

Careers at ľAV

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]]> Work That Matters: Technical Architect Stephen Giuliani Wants to Unleash Collaboration in Government Cloud /ecs-insight/ecs-culture/work-that-matters-technical-architect-stephen-giuliani-wants-to-unleash-collaboration-in-government-cloud/ Wed, 03 Apr 2024 04:01:30 +0000 http://ecstech.flywheelstaging.com/?p=29031 Stephen Giuliani, a lead technical architect at ľAV, discusses what it means to bring together the best teams to solve complex problems and the importance of being proactive and pushing the envelope.

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Stephen Giuliani, a lead technical architect at ľAV, has a history of pushing technological innovation and collaboration to help solve massive challenges.

Stephen’s career has been defined by the need to work well with disparate teams. That was true when he worked on Project Salus, the Department of Defense (DoD) AI project that played a critical role in providing predictive analytics on the effects of COVID-19 (including the impact on DoD command logistics and future planning). And it’s been true as he’s continued to manage multi-hybrid-cloud enclaves for the DoD. His goal? Helping the government respond more effectively to the many national security threats our nation faces, as well as the most critical needs of its citizens.

We sat down with Stephen to discuss what it means to bring together the best industry teams to solve complex problems. Along the way, we got insight into how ľAV stands apart as a systems integrator executing great ideas.

Q: Could you give us an overview of the work you do?

A: Technical architects help plan, design, and build IT systems. In my case, for several years I’ve been focused on cloud architecture and infrastructure, which, when dz’r working primarily with the government and specifically the DoD, means building operational environments that are secure, adaptive, and agile. It also means understanding the balance of the role existing systems play versus the benefits of innovation, migration, etc.

A few years back, I was involved with Project Salus, which leveraged predictive analytics to predict everything from COVID-19 hotspots to logistical issues, to which military bases were best for stockpiling food and supplies. Salus also provided statistical insights into COVID-related anomalies and emergent phenomena that could affect DoD’s interests. My part in that was not only acting as the primary data engineer, but also helping design and build the underlying infrastructure that our mission partners — Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Dell, Humetrix, LUCD, and others — needed to run their operations.

So, the throughline or connective tissue here is collaboration. I help build environments that enable mission partner collaboration on a critical scale, without sacrificing security.

Q: You talk about enabling greater collaboration at the DoD and across the government. Why is that such a critical issue?

A: So, the very nature of these agencies and the work they do has an impact, whether subtle or overt, on the day-to-day life of every citizen of this country. They’re doing critical mission work, and one thing that can happen is solution providers can get stuck in a reactionary mindset where they wait for the customer, be it the DoD or whomever, to bring problems to them before acting. That leads to suboptimal, less efficient government responses. And we most often see this in environments where there’s just one provider trying to do it all themselves, with less collaboration and less drive towards innovating new solutions.

The alternative is enabling greater collaboration within environments that are still secure. Collaboration fosters innovation, integration, adoption, and vision beyond what I call the “hive mindset.”

Q: What is it about ľAV’ approach to delivering cloud infrastructure that enables collaboration and, by extension, innovation?

ľAV sees the value not only in bringing a proactive mindset to solution delivery, but also in pushing the envelope and even challenging our customers a bit at times. If ľAV has a vision for how the DoD can leverage more collaborative network infrastructure to achieve better outcomes faster, it’s incumbent on us to articulate and demonstrate that.

Can we bring mission partners in at a secret level to do constructive work? Can we set up network infrastructure that meets the same infrastructure requirements that you would hold U.S. citizens to, while allowing other communities to access it in a controlled, secure way?

We think so, but there’s an important balance to strike here because we can’t ignore our customers’ very real and valid concerns around data security. Security is of paramount importance. So, it’s in that balance where dz’r ultimately going to innovate. And we get there by bringing in and integrating the best teams and the best ideas, because we know that we’re not the only ones with great ideas, but we have a proven record of executing them.

Q: Any final insights you’d like to leave us with?

A colleague of mine once used the phrase “the art of the possible” to describe how we should think about technical transformation and collaboration in these environments. It’s worth asking your customer to rethink how they do things versus what’s possible. Are you doing it this way just because that’s how you’ve always done it? Are there opportunities to do something differently, more efficiently, more beneficially than before? So, I think presenting that question, but in very pragmatic terms, is essential.

And finally, I’ll just say in cases when we work on something truly innovative — and by innovative, I mean the thing didn’t exist before and now it does or could — that’s hugely rewarding. Sure, it’s disappointing if it’s not ultimately adopted, but even those times provide learning opportunities and fuel for further innovation. You know that in this line of work you’ll ultimately get to see the fruits of that labor.

“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world.

Careers at ľAV

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]]> Work That Matters: Shannel Winslow on Organizational Transformation /ecs-insight/ecs-culture/work-that-matters-shannel-winslow-on-organizational-transformation/ Wed, 20 Sep 2023 11:00:54 +0000 http://ecstech.flywheelstaging.com/?p=25395 In this installment of “Work That Matters,” Shannel Winslow, senior transformation consultant at ľAV, discusses how she helps organizations of all sizes do the challenging but hugely rewarding work of organizational transformation.

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“Work That Matters”is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world. In this installment, we interview Shannel Winslow, senior transformation consultant at ľAV. Shannel helps organizations of all sizes do the challenging but hugely rewarding work of optimizing their operations, including personnel and departmental structures, workflows, and processes. She has more than a decade of experience in organizational transformation and holds a Master of Professional Studies degree in industrial and organizational (IO) psychology from the University of Maryland, where she also served as an adjunct professor for more than two years.

SHANNEL WINSLOW

SENIOR TRANSFORMATION CONSULTANT

Q. Organizational transformation involves optimizing every aspect of an organization, from personnel to processes to tools. What does this kind of transformation look like for a cybersecurity-focused client?

There are three components that a transformation consultant and their client have to keep in mind to have any success with transforming a cybersecurity-focused organization.

First, it’s important for the client to understand the potential value and impact of organizational transformation. These types of enterprises are typically quite complicated and involve a lot of moving parts, both people and technology. If they have operational inefficiencies, they could be severely hindered in achieving their mission objectives. So, they should view organizational transformation as an opportunity to optimize and improve the enterprise across the board.

0:04 - Cybersecurity-focused Organizational Transformation
1:15 - Significance of Organizational Transformation
2:40 - Industrial Organizational Psychology

Second, it’s important for the consultant to remember that leaders in these spaces are incredibly smart, talented, and skilled at what they do, whether that’s threat intelligence, cyber defense, etc. If they’ve risen through the ranks over the years, odds are they’re also functionally smart when it comes to operating and getting things done within the organization. But sometimes it’s just hard to see operational inefficiencies from the inside, or they may lose sight over time of how their various teams and functions should ideally work together. This is where the objective perspective of the transformation consultant is crucial.

Finally, the consultant has to keep in mind that cybersecurity organizations are essentially emergency response organizations that are dealing with critical, demanding missions. If dz’r trying to effect positive change, you have to be cognizant of those missions and the fact that, at any given moment, your priorities could take a back seat to a cyber incident, and understandably so. Flexibility and perseverance are key.

Q.What is the significance of your work with federal agencies for the average civilian?

It can be difficult for an end user to see the value of the work I do, because so much of it occurs behind the scenes. Transformation consultants help to optimize processes so that end users actually see an efficiency gain, whether in time saved or money saved. For federal organizations administering critical public services, such as healthcare, that’s going to have a real impact on many people’s day-to-day lives. But it’s not obvious from the outside looking in.

Q. ۴dz’v mentioned your background in IO psychology — the study of human behavior in the workplace. How does that knowledge base factor into achieving organizational transformation?

The most important thing to know about IO psychology from an organizational transformation perspective is that it is an empirical, data-based approach to effecting change. We are scientists at heart. We deploy many research methods — whether it’s conducting stakeholder interviews, doing roundtables, or reviewing strategy documents — and we do so with a focus on recruiting, training, employee development, successful offboarding, and change management.

Without that data-based foundation, without going in and having conversations with current employees and leadership, without getting input from external partners and stakeholders, it’s nearly impossible to provide a credible point of view on the direction of an organization.

Q. How does ľAV’ wide range of solution expertise create an “in” for you as a transformation consultant?

The idea of change can be scary. Typically, when I’m in the early stages of working with a client, they already have an idea in their head of what to expect. It doesn’t usually involve shifting functions, roles, or responsibilities, reevaluating priorities, reorganization, tough personnel decisions, etc.

Working for an organization like ľAV, where I’m surrounded by talented professionals in a wide array of fields, provides an opening for me to come in and ask the hard questions around priorities, strategic vision, and resources in an environment where the client is comfortable. ľAV has great relationships with people on the ground and intimate knowledge of our clients’ missions and organizations. That creates a safe space for people to be a bit more vulnerable and, ideally, receptive to the kind of positive change I’m there to introduce.

“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world.

Careers at ľAV

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]]> Work That Matters: Jack Parrish, Hurricane Hunter /ecs-insight/ecs-culture/work-that-matters-jack-parrish-hurricane-hunter/ Wed, 16 Aug 2023 11:00:38 +0000 http://ecstech.flywheelstaging.com/?p=25879 Jack Parrish reflects on his career as a hurricane hunter and helping NOAA develop the next generation of airborne laboratories.

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“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world. In this installment, we interview Jack Parrish, aviation aircrew flight director at ľAV. Parrish works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) helping plan and develop the next generation of hurricane hunting aircraft.

JACK PARRISH

aviation aircrew flight director

Q: Tell me a little about your role here at ľAV.

A: I work as aviation aircrew flight director here at ľAV. Together, my team and I are helping draft the regulations and requirements for the next generation of hurricane hunting aircraft. These aircraft are airborne laboratories, designed to travel right into the heart of a hurricane and measure critical data. The information they collect helps scientists model the hurricanes and predict their path.

The current aircraft NOAA uses is a modified Lockheed P3 airplane, which is a four-engine prop plane that has been the go-to model for 45 years. The P3s were the best flying radar platform out there when it came to weather. But radar systems have evolved, and they will continue to evolve. Our role is to take the best of the P3’s abilities and design an aircraft that can handle the latest scientific instrumentation and grow as scientists’ needs do. My role has recently expanded as well! In addition to the design work, I will now be flying with the NOAA hurricane fleet for the 2023 hurricane season as well.

Q: Before you came to work at ľAV, you had a long and storied career as a “hurricane hunter” yourself. What was that time like?

A: I was a flight director for NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (AOC). I did that role for close to 40 years. As flight director, I functioned as a liaison between the scientists on board and the flight crew who were responsible for flying and navigating through the storm. I still can’t believe I landed the role at the time. I had always thought of hurricane hunters the same way I thought of astronauts: very cool people, but none of us mere mortals were ever going to get a chance to be one. I’ll just admire them from afar. After working as a radar specialist in the Coast Guard, I went and got a meteorology degree at Florida State.

Lo and behold, in June of 1980, NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division needed a radar scientist with a meteorology degree, and my hurricane hunting career began. Then in 1983, I joined NOAA AOC as a flight director. Between 1980 and my retirement in 2021, I spent 42 consecutive seasons hunting hurricanes!

Q: Flying into the heart of a hurricane seems like a dangerous way of collecting data. What do these aircraft reveal that remote sensors can’t?

A: As I mentioned before, the information these aircraft collect helps scientists model the hurricanes and make predictions about their path. When I started flying in 1983, the National Hurricane Center could only put out forecasts three days ahead of time. After I left NOAA at the end of 2021, they were beginning to put out forecasts seven days in advance. That increase speaks to advances in computer modeling and better confidence in our forecasts. But models are only as good as the data that goes into them. To accurately model hurricanes, you need the best possible data! That requires information from inside the storm at different altitudes and points, which can only be collected by flying into the hurricane and measuring the storm directly. It’s critical life and death information, especially as our coastal populations soar, because it gives us the ability to make better long-range forecasts and effectively plan, prepare, and evacuate when storms do make landfall.

Q: What has your transition from a career in aviation to ľAV been like?

A: After I retired from NOAA, one of my old bosses from the organization contacted me, and at that point, I never had any intention of doing consulting work. But when he told me the role was helping develop the next hurricane hunter airplane, I thought, “Holy smokes, this is an opportunity I can’t pass up.” In all my years of flying P3s, I never thought I’d have a role in designing what came next. Working at ľAV enables me to work on a project near to my heart. It’s a way of expanding on the work I’ve been doing for the last 40 years. I’m honored to be part of this mission and team.

In all my years of flying P3s, I never thought I’d have a role in designing what came next.

“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world.

Careers at ľAV

The post Work That Matters: Jack Parrish, Hurricane Hunter appeared first on ľAV.

]]> Work That Matters: Mike Taylor on Health IT at Sea /ecs-insight/ecs-culture/work-that-matters-mike-taylor-on-health-it-at-sea/ Wed, 09 Aug 2023 11:00:13 +0000 http://ecstech.flywheelstaging.com/?p=25530 Hospital Ship Joint Task Director Mike Taylor of ľAV oversees IT engineering, cybersecurity, and healthcare logistics aboard the world’s biggest hospital ship — the U.S. Naval Ship Mercy.

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Mike Taylor still gets a little choked up remembering the taxi driver he met in 2015 in the Philippines. While driving Mike to the pier where the was docked, the driver explained that Navy surgeons aboard the ship had just repaired his niece’s cleft palate. From the taxi’s back seat, Mike could see the man’s beaming smile in the rearview mirror.

“In the Philippines, kids don’t normally get care for a cleft palate,” Mike explains. “They’re often rejected by their families and unlikely to marry. But one of our surgeons, in about an hour, had repaired that girl’s palate and probably changed her life. I’m just an IT guy, but maybe my work contributed to some small part of that.”

Welcome to the world’s largest hospital ship and the workplace of ľAVer Mike Taylor.

MIKE TAYLOR

HOSPITAL SHIP JOINT TASK DIRECTOR

Q: We last checked in with you in 2021. Since that time, what have you and the ľAV team been up to aboard the USNS Mercy?

Mike Taylor (right) with ľAV Data Center Engineer Scott Hession (center) and U.S. Navy Surgeon General Vice Admiral C. Forrest Faison. Mike and Scott had been demonstrating to the surgeon general the ship's ham radio disaster response capability.

A: We still manage IT engineering and cybersecurity. We also handle healthcare logistics, which means keeping the ship stocked with bandages, scalpels, needles, and other supplies.

Right now, we’re transitioning to hyperconverged* technology. Every resource on a ship is finite, so we’re always looking for ways to use less power, have a smaller environmental impact, and take up less rack space. Hyperconvergence will help us do that.

We do routine things like firewall upgrades, and we’re always working to meet several sets of standards. We perform all the cyber operations that corporations perform, plus those the military requires, plus those that hospitals perform.

I personally spend my time on funding and working with vendors to replace equipment. I work with staff on ship to schedule updates and upgrades in ways that won’t hinder the Mercy’s readiness. It’s the crazy dance CIOs and IT directors sign up for. But pulling it off and watching these ships do their good work is beyond worth the effort.

*Hyperconvergence uses virtualized computing, software-defined storage, and virtual networks to combine storage, computing, and networking into a single system.

Q: What special challenges do IT pros face aboard a Navy hospital ship?

A: Cybersecurity is a special challenge. When we go to foreign ports, we can have thousands of foreign nationals coming aboard ― not just patients, but also tourists and medical experts. There’s plenty of opportunity for bad actors to put USB devices into PCs, take pictures, or slip into restricted areas. The attack vectors are insane. We put the utmost care and concern into all things cyber.

Secondly, nobody on a ship has an out. When you’re underway in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and your satellite communication is down, there’s no reaching out to a friend, and there’s no Google. You either know what you’re doing or you don’t.

Finally, power onboard is unpredictable. It can fry hardware, so backup measures are vital. You need replacement hardware for everything.

“When you’re underway in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and your satellite communication is down, there’s no reaching out to a friend, and there’s no Google. You either know what you’re doing or you don’t.”

– MIKE TAYLOR

Q: What makes ľAV the right company to handle health IT at sea for the Navy?

A: Our deep focus on cyber, for one thing. We’re at the forefront of cybersecurity, and that bleeds into the way we implement all IT systems on ship. And we’re winning. We’re preventing bad actors from making trouble on the Mercy.

The well of skills the team can draw from at ľAV is super deep. We have people in all the IT disciplines, and the team can tap into that well and do magical things.

ľAV is also intimate with the nuances of expeditionary medicine. Several of us on the Mercy are former military. We deploy with the military guys. We understand the almost religious nature of the mission, and we’re dedicated to it.

Finally, ľAV leadership provides the necessary support. Everybody at ľAV, all the way up to the CIO’s office, is interested in the ship’s mission and eager to back it. To have that support, especially when we go downrange on a six-month humanitarian mission — you can’t put a price on that.

Chief Information Officer Joshua Harris, Data Center Engineer Scott Hession, and Hospital Ship Joint Task Director Mike Taylor taking a break on the weather deck of the USNS Mercy.
Mike Taylor stands before the Chinese hospital ship Diashan Dao (Peace Ark) before touring her during a Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC).
ľAV’ Mike Taylor (left) and British naval officer LCDR Middleton aboard the USNS Mercy during a formal visit from the U.S. ambassador to Japan during a Pacific Partnership deployment.

Q: For years, you’ve been working in an intense and challenging setting. What keeps you there?

A: The Mercy is an extension of the wonderful gift of talent the United States has and a way for us to project our humanitarian might forward. If, God forbid, war breaks out, the Mercy will support the Navy and other forces.

I have the chance to help make sure the Navy can do these things for others and bring home the stories and good news. Even after combat, they might be able to say they had hundreds of wounded sailors, soldiers, airmen, and Marines on ship and they saved them all.

Having the ability to help make this happen is very gratifying. It gives you a feeling of purpose, a feeling that the things dz’r doing are meaningful.

“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world.

Careers at ľAV

The post Work That Matters: Mike Taylor on Health IT at Sea appeared first on ľAV.

]]> Work That Matters: Dana Hanton on the Future of Health IT /ecs-insight/ecs-culture/work-that-matters-dana-hanton-on-the-future-of-health-it/ Wed, 28 Jun 2023 15:26:58 +0000 http://ecstech.flywheelstaging.com/?p=24963 Dana Hanton, director of health innovation at ľAV, discusses transformative healthcare technology and her work with the VA.

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“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world. In this installment, we interview Dana Hanton, director of health innovation at ľAV. Dana works closely with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to integrate new and innovative healthcare solutions supporting veterans’ health.

DANA HANTON

DIRECTOR, HEALTH INNOVATION

Q: Tell me a little about your role as director of health innovation.

A: I am part of the health IT division of ľAV, but my team does work far beyond just information technology. Right now, a lot of my work supports the delivery and integration of a new electronic health record (EHR) system for the VA, which is one of the largest healthcare systems in the nation. While there is a very large IT component to that, I also act as strategic advisor, helping the VA with business operations, change management, healthcare delivery, and more as they implement and migrate to this massive new EHR system.

As director of health innovation, I am also involved in looking at artificial intelligence and other technologies to help improve decision making and support for healthcare providers. Our role is to find ways of bringing these innovations into the healthcare setting so providers can make informed and evidence-based decisions that improve patient outcomes.

Q: You were originally a nurse before moving into the health IT field. What was the transition like?

A: Consulting on health IT solutions wasn’t a path I planned on going into, but I got a call from a headhunter who recruited me into the field. I went into the transition somewhat blind. But I quickly found that in the consulting world, I could take my knowledge as a nurse and use it to make a systemic and global impact, more than I could as a nurse alone. By consulting in the health IT space, I can work to improve all of healthcare, versus the handful of patients I took care of shift by shift.

Q: AI. Wearables. Personalized healthcare. What do you see as the future of healthcare?

A: A lot of the focus is on how these new technologies enable providers to make better decisions, and rightfully so. But new technologies are empowering patients as well. Patients have more control than ever over their own health data. With better access and information, patients can make more informed and personalized decisions regarding their own health.

It’s exciting to be on the forefront of this work at ľAV and be able to work on missions as large and consequential as the VA’s. We’re taking technologies once thought to be sci-fi and engineering them to standards required for medical use, so healthcare facilities can safely and effectively integrate them into day-to-day healthcare operations. That’s a noble mission and one I am proud to be a part of at ľAV.

“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world.

Careers at ľAV

The post Work That Matters: Dana Hanton on the Future of Health IT appeared first on ľAV.

]]> Work That Matters: Mike Zakrzewski on Securing Our Nation’s Cyber Defenses /ecs-insight/ecs-culture/work-that-matters-mike-zakrzewski-on-securing-our-nations-cyber-defenses/ Thu, 22 Jun 2023 11:00:23 +0000 http://ecstech.flywheelstaging.com/?p=24844 Mike Zakrzewski discusses his work on the CISA CDM dashboard and federal zero-trust implementation.

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“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world. In this installment, we interview Mike Zakrzewski, senior director of Cyber Technology at ľAV. Mike works on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Continuous Diagnostics and Monitoring (CDM) program, which plays a critical role in our nation’s cyber defenses. He also serves as an expert on zero-trust architecture and implementation.

MIKE ZAKRZEWSKI

SENIOR DIRECTOR, CYBER TECHNOLOGY

Q: First, can you give us some background on your work with CISA and the CDM Dashboard? What are the implications for national cybersecurity, and why should the average person care?

A: I have been around the CDM program for more than seven years now in one capacity or another, from designing and implementing solutions at the lowest levels (endpoint logging, asset discovery, vulnerability scanning, etc.) up to the federal dashboard itself, and everything in between.

CDM plays a vital role in safeguarding federal agency networks and systems, empowering agencies to detect vulnerabilities, fortify defenses, and neutralize threats. That mission’s focus has evolved over time to encapsulate continuous monitoring and real-time visibility, as well as incident response and risk management tools. I applaud our CISA customer’s agility in adapting the program to alignwith emergingthreats and the cybersecurity needs of various federal agencies. ľAV has played a supporting role in that as well by implementing a capability for government-wide distributed queries and analytics, which gives CISA analysts the direct access to information they need to better evaluate and act on federal risk at scale.

"...information systems control many of the critical functions powering our day-to-day lives."

Now, why does any of this matter to the average person? First, let’s remember that information systems control many of the critical functions powering our day-to-day lives. Take the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in 2021. That attack lasted for about a week and led to widespread fuel shortages, affecting millions of people across the southeastern U.S. We have numerous other examples of similar attacks we could point to. It’s organizations like CISA and programs like CDM that protect our government information systems, as well as some of our nation’s most vital assets, from these types of threats.

Q: Collaborating with the right technology partners has always been a key part of ľAV’ success strategy. What’s the significance of our partnership with Elastic in making the CDM Dashboard work?

A: ľAV works closely with several technology partners. Our Elastic partnership is a great example of how we thoroughly evaluate technology to best meet our customers’ needs, then fully commit to training and upskilling our workforce on that technology. As part of our CDM work, ľAV evaluated a number of candidate platforms that could serve as the core technology for data collection and analysis. We performed a compressive trade study, prototyping multiple solutions, and firmly settled on Elastic.

We’ve since trained over 150 engineers across the company on the Elastic stack and have the most Elastic-certified engineers and analysts of any company other than Elastic itself. Elastic is embedded within many of our big data solutions across ľAV programs. The ability to recognize patterns hidden within large datasets and identify critical mission intelligence provides a huge benefit to our customers, including CISA.

Q: ۴dz’v spoken about how being in solution architecture has enabled you to broaden your technological knowledge and expertise. With your insight into many different challenge areas facing the cybersecurity field today, what’s one that stands out?

A: If I had to focus on just one area, it would be zero-trust because it’s so foundational to securing modern network architectures. First, it’s important to understand that traditional enterprise network perimeters have essentially dissolved. Almost every organization has widely adopted infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS), meaning they store their data and host their resources across multiple cloud service providers (CSPs), outside of a defined corporate perimeter. Hybrid and remote work arrangements are now the norm. All of which means traditional, perimeter-based defenses can no longer effectively secure an organization, because that corporate perimeter is nebulous.

This is the challenge zero-trust addresses.

Q: Even today, misconceptions still abound regarding zero-trust. Do you think the industry at large is ready for the federally mandated shift to zero-trust? What can organizations do to close the gap?

A:Within the last two years we’ve received some very exacting guidance from the Department of Defense (DoD), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and CISA, all of which was sorely needed. On the federal-civilian side, Executive Order 14028 called for several “bold changes” to the government’s approach to cybersecurity, including moves toward zero-trust architecture. This was followed by OMB’s M-22-09, which codified specific actions related to zero-trust including timelines and budgetary requirements, and CISA’s release of v2.0 of the ZT Maturity Model. On the DoD side, the Zero-Trust Strategy and Capability Roadmap, released in late 2022, describes detailed actions, timelines, and a phased implementation approach to zero-trust.

"Our federal customers have a whole lot of work to do. The good news is that industry is ready to support these efforts."

I bring all that up to make this point: Our federal customers have a whole lot of work to do. The good news is that industry is ready to support these efforts. Zero-trust compliance does not require new technologies to be created. Everything needed for implementation is already available in the current market. In fact, many of the tools needed to implement a zero-trust compliant solution already exist within federal customer environments. What is needed is compliant configuration and integration, improved governance, and movement toward dynamic policy creation and enforcement. It’s no small task, but our industry is equipped to help make it happen.

Q: What sets ľAV apart from other service providers when it comes to zero-trust?

"ľAV uniquely well-positioned to aid our customers on their journey toward zero-trust maturity."

A: Our breadth and depth of experience across cybersecurity. ľAV has multiple programs supporting each of the found in the ZT Maturity Model, enabling us to address a customer’s zero trust needs holistically. We have programs of extreme depth in each of these pillars, as well. For example, our Army Endpoint Security Solution (AESS) program delivers endpoint protection to more than 800,000 Army endpoints — a depth of implementation of device pillar capabilities that is almost unmatched in the industry. Or consider a program like CDM and its utility in implementing the visibility and analytics cross-cutting capability. This breadth and depth of expertise is what makes ľAV uniquely well-positioned to aid our customers on their journey toward zero-trust maturity.

“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world.

Careers at ľAV

The post Work That Matters: Mike Zakrzewski on Securing Our Nation’s Cyber Defenses appeared first on ľAV.

]]> Work That Matters: Carissa Russo on Veteran Suicide Prevention /ecs-insight/ecs-culture/work-that-matters-carissa-russo-on-veteran-suicide-prevention/ Wed, 10 May 2023 11:00:22 +0000 http://ecstech.flywheelstaging.com/?p=24296 Carissa Russo discusses her career and work supporting suicide prevention among active-duty service members, veterans, and their families.

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“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world. In this installment, we interview Carissa Russo, senior consultant at ľAV. Carissa supports the development and implementation of the , which promotes a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention among active-duty service members, veterans, and their families.

CARISSA RUSSO

SENIOR CONSULTANT

Q: Tell me a little about your role here at ľAV.

A: I am a senior consultant under the contract, which directly supports the implementation of the VA/DoD Suicide Prevention Conference. In my role, I assist the VA project leads with meeting management, execution of conference deliverables, and overall project tracking and reporting. Prior to my role on PREVENTS, I supported the Caregiver Support Program on the Training and Education Workstream.

Q: What is the importance of your work on suicide awareness and prevention for veterans in particular? What impact are you hoping to make?

A: Suicide prevention is important to me because my father struggled with suicidal ideation during his life. I know the impact mental illness has on those suffering as well as their loved ones. Suicide rates among veterans are starting to decline, but we still see thousands of veterans die by suicide every year. I took this opportunity to make an impact among this population who need intervention, with the hope of bringing education to health care providers and the general public which could then translate to better policy and protection for our veterans.

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, please
call or text 988 to connect directly to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Veterans can press “1” after dialing 988 to connect directly to the Veterans Crisis Lifeline, which serves our nation’s veterans, service members, National Guard and Reserve members, and those who support them. For texts, veterans should continue to text the Veterans Crisis Lifeline short code: 838255.

Q: ۴dz’v said dz’r a nurse by trade. How has your background influenced your career progression, from nurse to ľAV consultant?

A: When I became a nurse, I immediately knew that my passion lay beyond the bedside – that I wanted to help influence the policies, procedures, and systems behind patient care. I transitioned to a nursing management role, gaining a “whole health” understanding of the quality of care patients deserve, before pivoting to the non-profit sector to focus on at-risk populations who needed improved access to care.

Working in the non-profit world, I realized I wanted to pursue my graduate degree in public health and that project management was my ideal career path. Immediately after graduation I led a quality improvement project with the Virginia Department of Corrections before taking a role as a consultant with ERPi, whom ľAV acquired in 2021. I’m in a position now to do what I knew I wanted to do years ago: help change the systems underpinning care and care access for the better. And I get to do it by serving a population and a chronic health issue that holds incredible personal significance for me.

Q: How has ľAV helped support and empower you in your role?

A: I have had the pleasure to report to three different women at ľAV who have been nothing less than supportive. I wake up happy to come to work, appreciate the guidance they have provided me, and feel empowered through my work with each of them. ľAV has also championed my continuing education, including getting my Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP) certification and studying Agile software development, with plans to apply for my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification next. Access to these benefits has allowed me to grow my skills and perform better in my role at ľAV, but just as importantly it shows the company’s commitment to providing the best possible services and solutions to our clients.

“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world.

Careers at ľAV

PROUDLY V3 CERTIFIED

ľAV is a Virginia Values Veterans (V3) certified organization. We are committed to recruiting, hiring, and retaining veterans for the value they bring to the workforce. Virginia has the fastest growing veteran workforce in the country, and we are now trained on best practices for recruiting and hiring transitioning military members.

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]]> Work that Matters: Joanna Dempsey on the DHS CDM Dashboard /ecs-insight/blog/work-that-matters-joanna-dempsey-on-the-dhs-cdm-dashboard/ Tue, 24 Jan 2023 22:00:55 +0000 http://ecstech.flywheelstaging.com/?p=12023 Joanna Dempsey, director of cybersecurity at ľAV, is using her business acumen, management skills, and technical understanding to successfully manage the DHS CDM Dashboard Ecosystem.

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“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world. In this installment, we interview Joanna Dempsey, senior director of cyber solutions at ľAV. Joanna leads the company’s portfolio of programs supporting the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). She is responsible for delivering solutions which enhance our nation’s cybersecurity defenses, including the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Dashboard.

JOANNA DEMPSEY

DIRECTOR OF CYBER

Joanna Dempsey has spent her career in information technology, but it wasn’t until going back to school for her M.B.A. that she became interested in cybersecurity. While most of her classmates were cybersecurity professionals seeking business and management skills, she was just the opposite—a program manager who had studied business as an undergraduate and wanted to improve her technical acumen. Shortly after graduation, Joanna began working on the CISA CDM Program, diving headfirst into cybersecurity and never looking back.

Q: You were a business analyst who went back to school in order to move into a more technical space—what were the challenges of that transition?

A: I’ve worked closely with engineers throughout my career, which I love because I’m always learning new things. However, the challenge of working in a technical space is that I’ve also often felt like I’m trying to solve a puzzle without understanding the complete picture. I’m constantly taking notes and Googling when I get back to my desk, and I’ve had more than my fair share of whiteboard educational sessions with my more technical peers. I used to feel that my business background was a weakness in a technical field. However, I’ve learned over time that my ability to offer a different perspective on how to approach challenges is a strength, especially in areas where technology is only part of the solution.

Going back to school was an opportunity for me to continue leaning into the business aspects I enjoy, while pushing myself to better comprehend IT and cybersecurity. The biggest challenge of going back to school while working full time was having my first child halfway through the program. A week after he was born, I had to attend an all-day class and make a presentation. I remember thinking, if I can do this, I can do anything work throws my way!

Q: After graduating, how did you put your new degree to use?

A: My M.B.A. in Information Security Management enabled me to immediately apply everything I was learning to my job, which was very rewarding. After graduation, I applied for a rotation program within my company at the time. It was a very competitive job with a tough application, including a strategic plan for a mock business and a presentation to company leadership. Because I’d spent the past few years doing similar work in school, it didn’t seem like such a heavy lift.

After that, I spent a year and a half in corporate strategy, which offered me a completely different perspective on how businesses function also helped me better understand my own professional aspirations and preferences. I missed working directly with customers and managing a team—I even missed working closely with engineers! So, right after my second baby was born, I volunteered to take on a new challenge: supporting the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program. I’ve now been supporting CISA and the CDM program for close to 7 years. It sounds strange, but having kids has actually propelled me forward in my career. It forces me to be efficient and strategic with my time, and it’s motivated me to make the most of the time I spend at work.

Q: Tell me about working on the CDM Dashboard Ecosystem.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security SealA: The CDM Dashboard Ecosystem is a cybersecurity tool that provides real-time cyber situational awareness to CISA, as well as federal civilian agencies. As a program, it just passed a major milestone: 10 years of helping agencies better identify and protect their assets! We aggregate, enrich, and visualize data from close to one million federal devices, including vulnerability, software, and configuration status. When you put these data points together, you have a pretty complete picture of the security state of any particular asset, which agencies use to prioritize their defense efforts.

Because there are so many stakeholders—various CISA stakeholders, agencies, multiple integrators—no single entity owns the ultimate outcome of the CDM mission. Everyone works together, which can be challenging, but it also creates the opportunity for a tremendous amount of learning. You are constantly talking to different people to understand how they are solving their piece of the puzzle. For me, that’s one of the best parts of the job.

Q: What’s next for you at ľAV?

A: I love leading our ľAV team supporting CISA – as the newest Federal Agency with a rapidly expanding mission, I see no shortage of opportunities here for me to continue to apply my passion for cybersecurity and business to help solve really hard problems. I am particularly excited about the next phase of CDM. We’ve spent the last three years implementing a new technology stack, which is going to enable a new level of operational visibility into cyber risk. It’s going to be a lot of fun figuring out how we now streamline access to the data and connect with other initiatives across CISA to maximize its value.

Getting into the weeds and problem-solving with our amazing engineers is not something I plan on giving up any time soon. As a business leader, one of the things I love about ľAV is that leaders have more control over how they spend their time than I’ve seen at other places. There are some very effective leaders at ľAV who work very differently from one another, and yet, the outcomes are similar and positive. I like knowing that if I choose to move up, I’ll have the freedom to do things in a way that works for me and for the business. ľAV is a very encouraging and inclusive place to work–I feel like my career is mine to shape, and the company will support me. I find that very empowering and motivating.

“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world.

Careers at ľAV

The post Work that Matters: Joanna Dempsey on the DHS CDM Dashboard appeared first on ľAV.

]]> Work That Matters: Stacia Schurott /ecs-insight/ecs-culture/work-that-matters-stacia-schurott/ Wed, 14 Dec 2022 12:00:22 +0000 http://ecstech.flywheelstaging.com/?p=21623 Stacia Schurott discusses her work for the Department of Energy, and how she’s developed her career at ľAV.

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“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities, as well as the larger impact they have on the workplace, community, and world. In this installment, we hear from Stacia Schurott, deputy general manager at ľAV, who helps provide information technology, cloud, and cyber solutions to critical Department of Energy (DOE) contracts.

STACIA SCHUROTT

DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER AT ľAV

Q: Tell me a little about your role here at ľAV.

A: As deputy general manager, I am responsible for the day-to-day operations and support of a couple of our company’s contracts with the DOE. They are extremely important missions as the DOE addresses energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges which ensures our country’s security and prosperity.

My teams are responsible for providing the critical telecommunications and IT systems support. Our solutions include everything from high-performance computing (HPC), cloud computing, and change management to networking, telecommunications, training, infrastructure, application development, end user support, and help desk support. All together, we support over 15,000 classified and unclassified users! We also support 150,000 devices and manage a 24x7x365 security operations center.

Q: What is the importance of the DOE mission, and how does ľAV help the agency achieve their goals?

A: The DOE enterprise is massively complex, with 14,000 federal employees and over 95,000 contractors. Many of the subagencies have their own leadership teams. The DOE operates a nationwide system of 17 national labs, and their missions impact many parts of our day-to-day lives. For example, DOE is responsible for researching and developing alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and plasma fusion to name a few. As a leader in cloud, cyber, and enterprise business solutions, ľAV is uniquely positioned to help these agencies develop and maintain critical IT infrastructure, which enables the agency to operate more effectively than ever before.

Q: You graduated from ľAV’ Culture of Capture program, which helps rising leaders at ľAV develop BD and capture skills. How did that experience impact your career?

A:In addition to my operations role, I am also involved with business development (BD) at ľAV, where I work to identify new opportunities to support the DOE mission. My background is in IT and operations, but I started my career in the higher education industry and switching to the energy and research industry was a huge shift for me. I spent a few years at a DOE laboratory out east before joining ľAV, so I came in with a good deal of DOE knowledge, including IT and operations experience in this sector. Participating in ľAV’ Culture of Capture program, however, helped me take that experience and merge it with a larger strategy skillset. The program was crucial for my career development and I’m grateful for the education and mentorship that ľAV has provided.

Q: You are heavily involved with a Women in Technology group. How has that experience been? Do you have any go-to advice for women in the industry?

A: I co-chair a Woman in Technology group, one of about a dozen “communities of practice” created for our current contract. The group brings together women across the project and helps empower them through education, mentorship, and support. It’s a great group of women helping support each other and their careers, and inspiring future generations

If I had to give advice to women in the industry, I would say: Find a mentor. Challenge yourself. Make your voice heard. Don’t be afraid to make suggestions, everyone brings something to the table. Don’t say no to opportunities and don’t be afraid to make mistakes – it’s how we grow and get to the positions and roles we want to be in tomorrow.

Interested in working with Stacia on the future of our nation’s energy technology?
Check out our Career page today.

“Work That Matters” is a series in which ľAV experts discuss their roles and responsibilities and the larger impact they have in the workplace, community, and world.

Careers at ľAV

The post Work That Matters: Stacia Schurott appeared first on ľAV.

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