The Criterion Story

Customer-driven, Mission-focused

Since 2005, Criterion has provided high-end information technology and systems integration services for many of our nation’s mission-critical environments. Criterion focuses on cybersecurity, cloud/data center management, IT infrastructure operations, and systems engineering.

From the CEO’s office to the front lines, Criterion’s people understand that there is only one true measure of success: customer satisfaction. To us, customer satisfaction means more than just meeting performance requirements – it means understanding our customers’ missions, learning how our services enable mission success, and working shoulder-to-shoulder with our customers to ensure they are able to achieve their goals.

This is more than a job – it is a calling, and we stop at nothing to ensure our customers are able to execute their missions in support of the United States of America.

Quality

Quality of service is the most important factor in delivering on our commitment to our customers. As such, Criterion has invested in and maintains a Quality Management System (QMS) that is certified against ISO 9001:2015. It provides Quality Control processes and procedures to be applied across all our contracts. This certification means we bring repeatable processes for monitoring, controlling, and correcting contract performance as needed to ensure we meet or exceed all requirements. Through consistent execution of these processes, we maintain a customer satisfaction rating greater than 99% as measured by customer surveys.

Customer Testimonials

"My team and I all wish to thank you again for you leadership and for their continued excellent service support – you have a team of ROCK STARS!"
"Your team does an unbelievable job… when problems arise, they work the problem, do the engineering, and get it resolved. You should be proud of the team Criterion’s PM and leads have assembled out here. They are as good as any IT team I've seen."
"I would like to make you aware of the very positive things that I observed regarding the performance of the assessment team. Throughout the assessment I was able to observe the team exhibit a high degree of professionalism and technical competence during a very challenging assessment."
"We greatly appreciate your effort to ensure your team members in Albuquerque remained engaged and informed. Your expertise was invaluable. Again, thank you for your efforts, and congratulations for a job well done!"
"I wanted to just take a moment (I don’t do it enough) and stop and recognize your team of ISSOs/ISSEs for all the work they have been and are currently doing. They are going above and beyond and really impressed me away when I was out last week. They always do a great job, but the amount of items they are tracking and the quality of the work they are producing is really top notch!"

Award-Winning

Over the past few years, Criterion has also been recognized for its outstanding growth and commitment to the DC region, appearing on the 2018 and 2019 Washington Business Journal lists of 75 fastest-growing companies in the Washington, DC, region; the Virginia Business 2018-2020 Fantastic 50 lists of fastest-growing businesses in Virginia; and the 2020 Inc. 5000 Series: D.C. Metro list of fastest-growing private companies. In 2020, the company secured a place on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in the United States for the sixth time, something only two percent of companies achieve. It also appeared on the inaugural Financial Times 2020 Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies list. Criterion CEO Promod Sharma was recognized as a 2019 EY Entrepreneur of the Year for the Mid-Atlantic Region in the category of cybersecurity and Criterion was named a Washington Post Top Workplace in 2019 and a Military Friendly® Employer for 2020 and 2021. In 2020, Criterion was named an official Virginia Values Veterans Certified Company and a U.S. Department of Labor HIRE Vets Gold Medallion Award winner.

Community

Criterion’s corporate philosophy holds that true success requires us to give back to our community. We encourage, support, and celebrate our employees’ many and varied community outreach activities through our Criterion Cares program. From a corporate perspective, we take a very focused approach. Since 2009, Criterion has supported The Women’s Center (TWC), an organization that provides mental health counseling, support, and education to the metropolitan area to help people live healthy, stable, and productive lives. In 2017, we became a patron sponsor of the organization. But more than simple philanthropy, we actively work with the Center to host an annual fundraising summer happy hour and employees serve on various committees to increase the exposure of TWC. By choosing to support one organization in a focused way, we can have a big impact. Read all our articles about what we’ve done with TWC over the years here.

We have extended this focused approach in our growing offices in Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Kansas City, and others by seeking out local leaders and organizations to partner with to make a difference. For example:

Criterion Supports Hour Of Code In Las Vegas
A group of cybersecurity employees from Criterion’s Las Vegas office recently volunteered for Hour of Code. Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries brought to you by Code.org, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities.
Criterion Supports “Feed the Kids” in Albuquerque
Criterion employees in Albuquerque recently participated in food drive organized by the Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) Security Forces, called Feed the Kids. The mission of the drive is to provide food to 75 at-risk children that attend Wherry Elementary and ensure they have enough to eat while outside of school.
Criterion Donates To Scouts Troop 323 In Missouri
Criterion made a donation to the BSA Troop 323 of Lee’s Summit, MO to help them buy camping equipment, such as tents, that they use every month of the year.
Criterion Sponsors Annual Russ Shields/Ballers Invitational Golf Tournament
Criterion Systems has sponsored the Russ Shields/Ballers Invitational Golf Tournament for the past few years. 2019 marked the eleventh anniversary of the event and the seventh year that Criterion has been a sponsor.
Criterion Volunteers Support Synergy Services
A group of Kansas City-based Criterion employees recently spent a day helping Missouri-based Synergy Services beautify their campus, as well as other painting, car washing and cleaning tasks. Criterion also donated $1000 to the organization. Synergy Services, Inc. began in 1970 as Synergy House, the only shelter for runaway and homeless youth in western Missouri.
Team Criterion Las Vegas Holds Book Drive
In December 2019, Criterion supported the Spread the Word book drive in Las Vegas for the second year in a row. It was organized as a friendly competition between different teams, and the Network Operations Center (NOC) team won a pizza party for bringing in the most books.
Criterion Helps Rehabilitate Garden for Niles
Criterion partnered with our USDA customer, the National Information Technology Center (NITC), to participate in United Way’s Day of Caring in June 2017. We worked together to rehabilitate a large garden at the Niles campus in Kansas City. Niles is an organization that provides residential and day treatment programs for children and teens.
Shootout for Soldiers Sponsor
In 2018 and 2019, Criterion was a sponsor of Shootout for Soldiers, a 24-hour lacrosse game and charity event benefiting veterans, taking place in Arlington, VA. The organization hosts more than ten “shootouts” a year across the country. The mission behind the event and the organization is to use lacrosse as a platform to support American veterans and foster community engagement.
Bridges to Community: Raise the Roof in Nicaragua
Criterion CEO Promod Sharma has sponsored the annual Raise the Roof fundraiser for Bridges to Community for the past several years. This organization helps build homes in Nicaragua.
Criterion’s NETL team participates in Bike Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Criterion’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) team joined 1,200 riders across Western Pennsylvania in raising nearly $600,000 for local programs and services for people affected by MS.
Criterion Donates to the Harbour in Albuquerque
Team Criterion recently made a donation that was used to purchase 35 sleeping bags for the Harbour. This innovative program, which is part of the New Mexico Dream Center, is the very first drop-in center of its kind for the city of Albuquerque and a vital resource for the more than 5000 teens who are homeless and at risk of exploitation in the city, including human and sex trafficking.
Criterion Supports Team Rubicon for Hurricane Harvey Disaster Response
Heartbroken by the devastation that those in Texas faced as a result of Hurricane Harvey, Criterion made a corporate contribution to Team Rubicon, a disaster response veterans service organization that utilizes the rapid response expertise of our military veterans.