Latest Press Releases

Dakota Consulting, Inc., provider of software engineering, management/information technology (IT) consulting services, cyber security, scientific research and technical support services, was registered in June 2021 to two different ISO standards including ISO 27001:2013 and ISO 20000:2018. Successful external audits by QMS Global against the rigorous requirements of these standards demonstrate Dakota’s commitment to protecting sensitive information and providing quality IT products and services.

Complying with the requirements of ISO 27001:2013 enables an organization to establish and continually improve an information security management system. The standard also equips a registered company to assess and address information security risks. Protecting the integrity and privacy of data is critical in an era where cyber-attacks are happening continuously on a global scale. Registration to ISO 27001 assures Dakota’s customers that we value their data and have taken steps to protect it from loss or theft.

The ISO 20000:2018 standard helps organizations implement and improve a management system designed to meet a customer’s service requirements and deliver quality products and services. Registration to the standard demonstrates that Dakota has built a continuous improvement culture and maintains a regularly audited system for compliance.

Dr. Reid Spearman, Dakota’s Quality Manager, announced the successful audit results on June 4th. Dakota adds these two new registrations to its Integrated Management System (IMS), which is also registered to ISO 9001:2015 (quality management systems) and ISO 17020:2012 (inspection bodies).

Dakota Consulting, Inc. won its bid to provide website management and creative services for the National Science Foundation’s SEED Fund. The contract supports the NSF’s efforts to enhance and maintain its websites and microsites that promote and manage grants awarded annually to innovative American companies. Dakota has a track record of delivering creative and technical services for NSF websites for more than a decade. The latest contract with NSF demonstrates the agency’s confidence in Dakota's capability to successfully support the agency’s mission.  

Dakota Consulting, Inc. recently won additional work on its advisory and assistance support contract at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in the Logistics Directorate of the Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command (HQ AFMC/A4/10). The contract modification supports newly identified data-analysis needs as well as an expanded scope of work to perform the migration of Munitions property and equipment data into the Defense Property and Accounting System (DPAS). Dakota has successfully performed multi-functional A&AS logistic support at the Wright-Patterson Air Force base since 2016. The latest contract expansion is one of several modifications to the original scope of work. The additional scope of work demonstrates the confidence that the Air Force continues to affirm in Dakota's capability to perform all tasks successfully and support our client’s mission.  

As part of a team-building effort, Dakota’s senior management prepared and served meals for the homeless in the Washington, DC area. The meal service program, known as Bright Meals, was established by Shepherd’s Table to bring together corporate leaders and nonprofit community initiatives for social good. Groups and co-workers learn team-building by preparing a meal for more than 50 homeless people, eating the meal together, and cleaning afterward. 

Commenting on the volunteer team-building event, Dakota Vice President Lokesh Sayal said, “No matter what the task or business goal, teamwork is essential. This gave our team a great opportunity to know one another in new ways and for strengths and skills to be leveraged for success. It was a great experience for all of us.”

Dakota’s annual corporate backpack and school supply drive was our biggest yet. All of Dakota’s locations collected backpacks and filled them to the brim with notebooks, paper, folders, glue sticks, pens, pencils, erasers, and more. In total, nearly 70 backpacks were distributed to children in homeless and domestic violence shelters in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, near Dakota’s Silver Spring, Maryland headquarters, and offices in Dayton, Ohio, and Denver, Colorado.

Dakota Vice President Lokesh Sayal, managers, and staff took time out to proudly support A Wider Circle this summer. The nonprofit agency is dedicated to eradicating poverty in the Washington area through on-the-ground programs and services, along with the development of large-scale solutions to end the root causes of poverty.

Management and staff in the Silver Spring, Maryland headquarters location worked together in support of A Wider Circle’s Workforce Development program, which helps low-income residents transition from homelessness into housing and employment. Dakota’s team completed a range of tasks, including sorting through houseware donations, moving furniture and home décor to restock the showroom floor, folding clothing donations, and organizing the children’s corner with toys and clothes.

Dakota Consulting, Incorporated, a premier provider of integrated information technology and program management services, today announced a five-year contract to provide technical and systems engineering support for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Polar Security Cutter (PSC) Program. The award was secured as part of the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Service–Small Business (OASIS SB) contract vehicle.

“Our new award from the US Coast Guard is a tremendous boost for our Management and IT Consulting Services team and Dakota’s portfolio, in general,” said Lokesh Sayal, Vice President of Dakota Consulting. “We welcome the opportunity to provide the agency superior service.”

Dakota, in partnership with Goldbelt Falcon, will lead the support for logistics planning and development activities for the Coast Guard’s Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) Support Services for the Polar Security Cutter. The support will cover requirements development, technical evaluations and crafting plans and processes for the execution of logistics products to the sustainment community. Dakota personnel will also manage the transformation of shipbuilder logistics data into the support documentation necessary for Polar Security Cutter (PSC) operations in the fleet.

Dakota Consulting, Inc., is pleased to announce that its Software Engineering and IT Consulting services have been appraised at Maturity Level 2 of the CMMI Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)® for Development (CMMI-DEV 1.3). Dakota was first appraised at Level 2 in 2015.

Level 2 indicates the organization is performing at a “managed” level. Managed projects ensure that processes are planned and executed in accordance with policy; projects employ skilled people who have adequate resources to produce controlled outputs; relevant stakeholders are involved in the project; project progress is monitored, controlled, and reviewed; and processes are evaluated for adherence to their process descriptions.

Lokesh Sayal, Vice President of Dakota and Appraisal Sponsor commented: “Our successful appraisal is an attestation to the commitment and dedication we put into our organization and projects to deliver the highest quality results to our clients. I congratulate our staff on this achievement.”

Dakota Consulting, Incorporated brought smiles and satisfied appetites recently for more than 100 patrons of Shepherd’s Table, a community kitchen in Silver Spring, Md., was part of the Bright Meal® program that brings sponsors together to select a meal, prepare and serve it to the kitchen’s homeless and low-income patrons. The activity was part of a team-building component of Dakota’s management training.

Dakota Consulting Vice President Lokesh Sayal, who participated in organizing the effort, said managers enjoyed the camaraderie with Shepherd’s table staff and patrons. “We have a legacy of giving back to the communities where we thrive. This was a perfect opportunity for both corporate giving and engagement in the places where we do business.”

Dakota Consulting, Inc. has won the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Scientific, Technical, Engineering Support Services (STESS) re-compete contract—a 5-year, $75-million IDIQ. Dakota will be a subcontractor to Strativia, LLC, a leading provider of technology and professional services based in Largo, MD. Announcing the win, Dakota Consulting Vice President Lokesh Sayal said: “Congratulations to everyone involved with the proposal submission and to the many subject matter experts, corporate and management staff who made our five years under the previous contract so successful.”

As a subcontractor, Dakota will be instrumental in providing support for Strativia as it leads the effort in providing services for NIST STESS.  Sayal said the companies will be seamless in working together. “We have a track record of success with both NIST STESS and Strativia, and I am confident our latest partnership will result in great added value for our long-standing federal client.”

Dakota Consulting has been awarded a contract to support the National Science Board (NSB) of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dakota will provide website administration, content management and graphic design for the NSB public website. Dakota will ensure the timely publication of content, notices and events.  Dakota has a successful portfolio of creative projects for federal clients.

Dakota Consulting won a contract to provide graphic design, user interface/user experience (UI/UX) support for Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). For this project, Dakota will work in collaboration with EXIM program staff to design enterprise risk management (ERM) tools, infographics, presentation slides and print products. Dakota has a broad array of visual communications activities under a growing portfolio of creative projects for federal clients.

Dakota Consulting employees from three locations took part in back-to-school drives this school year. Backpacks filled with needed school supplies for the upcoming year were donated to local communities in Maryland, Colorado and Ohio by employees this summer as part of the company’s “giving back” program. The effort is part of Dakota’s contribution to the national imperative to educate the next generation of scientific and technical workers.

Dakota corporate office as well as the Denver and Dayton, Ohio offices donated backpacks and supplies to children who are in need of the basic tools for education during a back-to-school drive July 17 – August 6.  Dakota’s contributions were donated to two non-profit agencies that serve children and their families in need. This enabled children to start off the 2017-2018 school year fully prepared with the tools they need to succeed.  In the Washington, D.C. region, Dakota donated supplies to the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda. Dakota’s Denver and Dayton, Ohio office employees donated back-to-school resources to Volunteers of America’s Operation Backpack® campaign. 

Dakota Consulting Incorporated was awarded a multi-year contract to provide enterprise system support services under the GSA STARS II GWAC contract. The team will support the NIST Office of Information Systems Management (OISM) with various IT technical services, including Microsoft Windows servers support, Linux servers support, Enterprise backup, SharePoint administration and Enterprise storage administration. The team will also offer business analysis support services across the NIST Gaithersburg campus.

Dakota Consulting Incorporated, a premier provider of integrated information technology and program management services, announced today the U.S. Air Force awarded the company a two-year, task order modification to the current contract under the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services – Small Business (OASIS SB) contracting vehicle. Dakota Team  will provide Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) support for the Depot Maintenance work at Headquarters Air Force Material Command, Directorate of Logistics, Civil Engineering and Force Protection (HQ AFMC/A4) at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Dakota is an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) registered company under the ISO 9001:2015 standard for quality management systems and holds a Maturity Level 2 rating under the Capability Maturity Model Integration Development Constellation (CMMI-DEV v1.3). As a result, the company leverages best practices to ensure agile delivery, proactively manage risks/issues and execute results-driven operations in providing program management for A&AS support.

HQ AFMC/A4 plays a central role in Air Force Depot Maintenance, spanning a range of planning, policy, management, and operational support activities to keep aircraft and other resources available to operational users.  Dakota will support the processes, policies, tools, and oversight to monitor performance, ensure compliance and support leadership decision-making.  

Dakota Vice President Lokesh Sayal noted: “We are very pleased to receive the Depot Maintenance modification. The award demonstrates HQ AFMC/A4 confidence that Dakota will continue to provide a superior delivery of services, as we have shown during the base period of the award. Our continuous- improvement-of-services model will continue to achieve current task order enhancement.”

Dakota Consulting Incorporated was awarded a subcontract to provide software development and infrastructure support services under the competitive National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) IT-DATA Indefinite delivery, Indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. Working in partnership with its prime, the team  will support the NIST Office of Information Systems Management (OISM) with software engineering services, including development, testing and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) to support several NIST enterprise systems. The team will also offer network infrastructure support services across the NIST Gaithersburg campus.

Dakota Consulting Incorporated was awarded a multi-year contract to provide third-party security controls assessment services to the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Office of Investigations (INV). The project seeks to help the Office of Investigations achieve an Authority
to Operate (ATO) for its new software application.

Dakota is an accredited third-party assessment organization (3PAO) under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management (FedRAMP) program.

Back-to-school supplies—backpacks, pencils, pens and paper—were collected by Dakota employees this summer as part of the company’s “giving back” commitment and the national imperative to educate the next generation of tech-savvy workers.

Dakota corporate office and its employees donated backpacks and supplies to children who are in need of the basic tools for education during a back-to-school drive, August 1-15. Dakota’s contributions were donated to two non-profit agencies that serve children and their families in need. In the Washington, D.C. region, Dakota donated supplies to the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda. Dakota’s Denver office employees donated back-to-school resources to MEED Colorado, which supports educational attainment for disadvantaged youth in the Denver area.

MEED Executive Director Sara Fuentes said Dakota’s contribution was especially appreciated. “We accomplish all that we do because of people like you that believe in and support our efforts. Because of your wonderful support, we have been able to provide the necessary essentials to a great number of homeless students.”

Dakota Quality Manager Reid Spearman shared best practices for communicating effectively on projects to achieve desired results at the annual Actionable Intelligence Symposium, sponsored by the Silver Spring Chapter of the Project Management Institute® (PMI), held on June 13.

Spearman’s presentation, “A Process for Effective Requests,” outlined the need for project managers to be mindful of the context in which requests are made to allow listeners to understand the request and how it fits into a bigger picture.

Dakota’s Quality Department oversees quality initiatives across the enterprise. Reid helps managers and project team members achieve compliance with company policy and procedures. According to Reid, “making, receiving and taking action on effective requests at every level of the organization is essential to the successful achievement of goals and objectives at Dakota.”

Dakota Consulting Incorporated today announced the passing of Founder and President Lorraine “Lori” Renner after a valiant fight against cancer. For more than 12 years, Renner steered the growth and development of the IT management consulting company with more than 100 employees and consultants in two offices in Silver Spring and Denver, Colorado. Dakota serves the IT management and business needs of more than a dozen Federal departments, agencies and private businesses.

Dakota Vice President Lokesh Sayal said Lori left a solid foundation for the company’s continued growth and commitment to excellence.

“Using her practical common sense and skills learned over a lifetime, Lori built Dakota into a strong, cohesive, and well-established organization that provides our government and private clients effective and exceptional programs and services, and gives our employees a fulfilling place to work. We have lost our founder, but the Dakota values she instilled—honesty, integrity and flexibility—will be part of our corporate identity forever.”

Sayal said, “Lori leaves Dakota with arrangements in place to continue providing our clients with the outstanding service they have come to expect.”

Expressions of condolence may be sent to Dakota Vice President Lokesh Sayal at lokesh.sayal@dakota-consulting.com

The Software Engineering Business Unit of Dakota Consulting achieved appraisal at Level 2 of the CMMI Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)®. A capability improvement approach, CMMI provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance.
 
Reacting to results of the appraisal, Dakota Consulting Vice President Lokesh Sayal, the Executive Sponsor for the CMMI® effort, said: “Our commitment to deliver quality software services and solutions was formalized through our attainment of CMMI Level 2 assessment. Attainment of CMMI Level 2 status is a key milestone in the company's strategic plan. It represents market recognition of our commitment to timely, accurate, and cost-effective solutions and services for our clients.”
 
The CMMI® Institute, a subsidiary of Carnegie Mellon University, is dedicated to elevating organizational performance through best-in-class solutions to real-world challenges. The Institute is the home of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)® for Development, Services, and Acquisition; the People Capability Maturity Model; and the Data Management Maturity Model (DMM)SM, which are capability improvement models that create high-performance, high-maturity cultures. The models are used in thousands of organizations worldwide to deliver business results that serve as differentiators in the global market.

Dakota Consulting won a contract today with the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) to provide position classification, analysis and advisory services, and human resources support for its Human Resources Office. Dakota CEO and President Lori Renner commented about the award: “USTRANSCOM is our first win under the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services – Small Business (OASIS SB) contracting vehicle. Our team is prepared to support TRANSCOM's mission, and we are poised to deliver the same high-caliber, cost-effective solutions and customer-focused service to the Air Force and other OASIS customers that we have delivered for the past 11 years to other Federal customers." 

Dakota Consulting renewed its accreditation by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), as part of the ISO 17020 Inspection Body Accreditation Program. Concurrent with this accreditation, Dakota was re-accredited by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) as a Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO). As an accredited 3PAO, Dakota provides independent cybersecurity assessment services to Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) seeking to achieve FedRAMP compliance.
 
“Increasingly, cloud-based solutions offer efficiencies that enterprise organizations—both Federal and commercial—need to remain agile and effective. Our accreditations provide the ability to ensure these benefits outweigh the potential liabilities of those efficiencies. We have the expertise to identify and recommend solutions to risks that can become liabilities and impede successful outcomes," said Gary Jacobs, Dakota’s FedRAMP Technical Program Manager.

Dakota Consulting was awarded a contract to provide information technology security services for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO). Working in partnership with the EPA’s information system security personnel, Dakota will provide a range of IT security services. Dakota Consulting is a management, scientific research and information technology services  company that provides comprehensive cybersecurity services, including consulting on IT program management and development, continuous monitoring program development, and independent third-party assessment services. Dakota is an accredited third-party assessment organization (3PAO) under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management (FedRAMP) program.