28 Sep Criterion Systems, Inc. Acquires SAGE Black
Vienna, Va., September 28, 2021 – Criterion Systems, Inc. (Criterion) announced today it has acquired SAGE Black Consulting and Contracting, LLC (SAGE Black), a government contractor providing a full spectrum of software engineering services to the GEOINT/SIGINT, space, and cyber domains with a growing Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) presence. SAGE Black operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Criterion and Criterion Chief Financial Officer Steve Mast serves as president of the subsidiary. Rock Hall Partners represented SAGE Black for the transaction, the terms of which were not released.
The SAGE Black team has joined Criterion’s Intelligence Solutions (IS) business unit, which focuses on providing systems integration and cyber operations-focused services to current and future customers. SAGE Black vice president Sean Dougherty has become a Criterion vice president, responsible for GEOINT-related software services in the IS business unit. SAGE Black founder Paul Patton has become a Criterion vice president, responsible for cultural integration and workforce development in the IS business unit.
“With this acquisition, Criterion brings new and robust software engineering and AI/ML capabilities to our Intelligence Community (IC) customers,” stated Promod Sharma, President and CEO of Criterion. “SAGE Black’s core competencies align very well with Criterion’s and support our strategic growth objectives.”
“This acquisition, combined with our purchases of Realm Consulting and Protas Solutions earlier this year, provides Criterion with a deep bench of expertise that will benefit both our IC customers and the company as a whole,” said Mr. Mast, who serves as president of the subsidiaries.
“SAGE Black’s customers will benefit from Criterion’s significant corporate infrastructure, especially in developing new and stronger mission-focused capabilities, strong talent acquisition expertise, and its ability to support innovative solutioning via its Centers of Excellence,” added Mr. Dougherty. “Furthermore, SAGE Black and Criterion have similar corporate values and culture, especially concerning technical excellence, ethics, and a team-focused business model.”
Criterion’s acquisition of SAGE Black provides opportunities for Criterion to apply knowledge and capabilities from the IS business unit across its National Security, Agriculture, and Civilian Divisions, helping them to meet their critical cybersecurity, cloud/data center, IT infrastructure, and systems engineering requirements more quickly and cost-effectively.
About Criterion Systems Criterion Systems, Inc. (Criterion) is a cybersecurity and IT services company. Since 2005, Criterion has provided cybersecurity, IT infrastructure operations, cloud/data center management, and systems engineering for our nation’s mission-critical environments across the Federal Government. Criterion is a trusted partner and proven prime contractor managing and executing enterprise-level IT service delivery across multiple departments/agencies. Our work leverages the expertise within our Cybersecurity and Cloud Centers of Excellence to identify best practices in the face of rapidly changing technology, emerging cybersecurity threats, and evolving industry/government standards, rules, and regulations while creating better, more efficient processes and methods for meeting complex challenges. Criterion has achieved Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)-DEV and CMMI-SVC Level 3 ratings and has been certified against ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems, ISO/IEC 27001:2013 Information Security Management Systems, and ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 Information Technology – Service Management Systems by G-CERTI Co., Ltd. Criterion is headquartered in Vienna, VA, with sites across the United States.