Irvine-based GovPlace Inc., which builds and services data centers for government agencies, is gaining work in the Department of Homeland Security’s bid to streamline operations.
“There’s a huge initiative now to go through and consolidate (data centers) and make them places that can survive natural disasters and terrorist attacks,” Chief Executive Adam Robinson said.
GovPlace also is seeing work from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“What’s going on geopolitically has certainly created some business opportunities for us,” Robinson said.
Cities, counties and states are GovPlace’s mainstay customers. The recent wins are part of a bid to grow work for the federal government, which now makes up about 35% of the company’s $25 million in yearly sales.
“This DHS contract will be an important chunk of business for us,” Robinson said. “It’s going to provide us with some really fun growth opportunities in the federal space.”
The company helps “agencies with millions of records and lots of data to store” build networks of servers and routers, GovPlace spokesman Brad Smith said.
In February, the company was one of 11 other small bidders awarded $3 billion to supply Homeland Security with network services.
GovPlace was the only California company among the vendors Homeland Security picked.
The contract is part of Homeland Security’s FirstSource program, which set aside contracts for small businesses.
“That seems to be an important part of their mission, making sure they have some diversity in their suppliers,” Robinson said. “There are a couple of dozen multibillion-dollar federal contractors that often grab the lion’s share of work.”
The program is part of a larger Homeland Security effort to consolidate technology suppliers among its various agencies.
The contract is for two years and could be stretched to five.
That’s about $60 million worth of work per company per year, though the money isn’t likely to be split equally among the 11 companies, according to Robinson.
GovPlace and others likely will compete for orders, he said.
The company plays up its work developing networks that can stand up to natural disasters and terrorist attacks, Robinson said.
“The areas that we are very good at are areas of high interest to the DHS,” he said. “It’s a matter of keeping records secure and protecting facilities, even if something happens to the main facility,so that the show can go on.”
The company also is seeing business from the Army’s efforts to rebuild Iraq.
In a separate contract win, GovPlace is set to supply laptops and data center gear to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior.
The contract, awarded Feb. 13, is valued at about $12.5 million. GovPlace beat 13 other bidders for the contract. Work is expected to be done by the end of May.
Government work brings its own set of rules, GovPlace’s Smith said.
“Things that are important to them are budgeting deadlines, procedures, following regulatory compliance, best practices and security,” he said.
GovPlace’s competitors include San Diego-based Nth Generation Computing Inc. and Irvine’s Agile360 Inc.
Privately held GovPlace was founded in 1996 by three graduates of the University of California, Santa Barbara, with backgrounds in information technology and business.
They began as tech consultants serving businesses, working for small manufacturers and schools in the Santa Barbara area. The company landed its first government contract in 1998 with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Government contracts grew to make up about 60% of the company’s business by 2000, Robinson said. The company decided then to pursue government work exclusively and sold off the commercial side of the business to Goleta-based Frontier Technology Inc.
It moved its headquarters to Irvine four years ago and has about 34 workers at its 10,000-square-foot office.
GovPlace also has sales offices in San Diego and Riverside.
The company plans to hire about a dozen more sales associates to help with the Homeland Security contract, Robinson said.
He said he expects double-digit revenue growth in the next few years. GovPlace has no immediate plans for going public or a buyout, according to Robinson.
“As a small organization, we have people approach us about a potential acquisition reasonably frequently,” Robinson said. “We are not really active in that market. And we have a fair amount of growth before an IPO would happen.”
