24 Sep Criterion’s Cloud/Data Center Management Capability Growing Thanks to Kansas City Team
Over the past few years, Criterion has increased its cloud/data center management capability thanks to the work it does for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Digital Infrastructure Services Center (DISC) Data Center Hosting Services (DCHS). In fact, earlier this year, several Criterion employees on the team won the U.S. Government Distinguished Team Award for their work there. They were recognized for demonstrating exemplary innovation and teamwork on the OCIO-DISC’s strategic initiatives to enhance and secure commercial cloud capability, increase cloud adoption, and improve customer experience in support of the Secretary’s IT Reform and Modernization initiatives through the delivery of Cloud Access Security Platform managed services and Cloud Lifecycle Management portal.
When it comes to cloud/data center management, Criterion helps its customers in two key areas:
- Transitioning applications and data to the cloud
- Transforming, consolidating, and managing modernized, scalable, and secure data centers
At USDA-DISC, Criterion is the prime contractor working with DISC to migrate all data centers, which represent thousands of users and devices across a large number of Federal organizations and business applications.
Our goal is to share lessons learned from this significant work through our new blog series called, “Lessons from the Cloud.” The first in the series covered the importance of security controls. This article, as the second in this series, introduces you to two key cloud/data center leaders at Criterion: Tim Stevens, senior program manager for OCIO-DISC, and his deputy, Kim Weaver, assistant task order manager. Both have been integral to growing Criterion’s cloud/data capability and sharing their knowledge throughout the organization. We asked them a series of questions, and you can read their answers below.
Getting to Know Tim Stevens
- What would you consider is your key subject matter expertise?
Technology Business Administration - What is an important lesson learned in that area that you apply frequently to add value to your customers?
Plan the work, work the plan, and hire great people. - Do you have a particular approach to solving problems?
Stay focused on the objective and consider people’s feelings. - What drives you? What is the key to your success?
I am driven by the desire to delight our customers, respect team members, and grow the program. Achieving all three is the “Holy Grail” of business. Finding ways to progress toward these objectives is my daily motivation. - What do you feel is your greatest achievement in your role here at Criterion?
Bringing the DISC contract to Criterion, successfully standing up contract operations, obtaining great performance ratings from our customer, growing the program through strong performance, and building a team with lots of happy employees! - What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you on the job?
I dressed up as the Easter Bunny and passed out chocolate eggs. After that, I was put under severe peer pressure to dress up as Cupid for Valentine’s Day, but I successfully resisted. - What is the craziest job you ever worked? Something that may surprise your coworkers?
I worked as a Resident Assistant in a university dorm while I was in college. I mopped up vomit, told people to turn down their music, busted pot smokers, covered naked girls, obtained approval to host the first-ever party with alcohol on campus, treated diabetic comas, assuaged worried parents, won softball intramurals by leading intimidation of the competition with obnoxious trash-talking, etc. A crazy job for sure!!
Getting to Know Kim Weaver
- What would you consider is your key subject matter expertise?
I didn’t become a Project Manager by accident. I enjoy planning, monitoring, and controlling (just ask my kids). But I also consider myself a creative thinker. I enjoy turning a problem around, looking at it from multiple perspectives, and coming up with sometimes unconventional solutions. - What is an important lesson learned that you apply frequently to add value to your customers?
My focus is always in building genuine relationships. I believe everything that does or not get done comes down to timing and relationships. Each exchange with another person is an opportunity to make either a deposit or a withdrawal of relationship equity. Honest, authentic relationships create an environment where everyone can do what needs to be done, take reasonable risks, and feel supported and encouraged. Real relationships require transparency, vulnerability, and sometimes a willingness to point out and laugh at my own imperfections. That kind of honesty, humility, and humor help to create an environment of trust and safety. - Do you have a particular approach to solving problems?
I believe attitude is everything, and that life is an adventure to be had, not a problem to be fixed. I treat “problems” like puzzles to decode, re-arrange, sometimes turn inside-out, and attempt to solve. I tend to rely on logic to identify the issue, specific language to define it, then creativity to resolve it. I ask myself what I assumed previously that failed to materialize, what I was unaware of before but know about now, and if intervention will change either of those things. Only then we can roll our sleeves up and figure out effective strategy. - What drives you? What is the key to your success?
My goal, every day, is to equip and empower the staff on our contract. My job is to keep their workspace cleared of anything administrative, contractual, procedural, or interpersonal that would impede their daily progress. I love my job because every day is different, with a new set of circumstances, challenges, and personalities. Each of those situations is a growth opportunity for me. - What do you feel is your greatest achievement in your role here at Criterion?
On the DISC/NITC Contract, our primary customer is the US Department of Agriculture. Their primary customers are the farmers and ranchers of America. In my small way, I am helping feed the world. There is no cause more noble. - What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you on the job?
I once walked into an office to apply for a job. They had me fill out an application, then asked me if I could stay and interview that same day. After a manager interview, they asked if I could stay and interview with the team. After that, he asked if I would go for a drug screen that same day. As I left, the hiring manager shook my hand and said he looked forward to working with me and said I would receive instructions in the mail in about a week.One week went by, then two, and I had not heard anything. I had almost forgotten about them altogether when I received a “Thanks, but no thanks” letter in the mail. I called the hiring manager and asked for some clarification, since I knew there was no possibility that I had failed the drug screen. He apologized profusely and said, “I don’t even know how to say this….we sent you the wrong letter. We expected you in the training class that started last Monday.”I ended up taking the job and worked for that company for almost eight years, and those years changed my life. The company was GE Capital and it was during Jack Welch’s heyday. I walked in a kid with no real job skills or direction, and I left there a career professional with passion. None of that would have happened if I had just taken that “No thank you” at face value. - What is the craziest job you ever worked? Something that may surprise your coworkers?
Back before the internet blessed us with Google and Wikipedia, I had a job selling encyclopedias. It was sequential dialing to schedule appointments, then driving all over creation to try to convince people to give up cigarettes or beer to be able “invest in their children’s future.”
We hope you enjoyed learning more about two of Criterion’s leading program/project managers. We will be sharing more stories in the near future.