New consulting firm allies with Input

Two government veterans have launched a new consulting firm in Chantilly, Va., and have formed a close affiliation with research firm Input.

Together, the two entities will shepherd new companies as they try to enter the federal market and also will help more experienced companies analyze their markets and create strategic plans.

"We see a lot of companies running around chasing their tail where they're bidding on things that aren't very appropriate for what the company does," said Paul Brubaker, one of the founding members of the new firm, ICG Government. "We want to help those companies, large and small, rationalize what they do relative to the market space."

Brubaker served as former deputy chief information officer at the Defense Department and then as chief executive officer at Aquilent Inc., a government-focused professional services firm, before leaving last fall to become a consultant.

His co-founder at ICG, Don Upson, was Virginia's secretary of technology from 1998 to 2002. Upson then served as vice president of business operations at webMethods Inc. federal division until last month.

Alan Balutis, former executive director of the Federation of Government Information Processing Councils, will serve as ICG's "utility infielder," but will not be full-time member of the firm, Brubaker said.

Input, an information and research firm also based in Chantilly, will provide data and analysis to support ICG's recommendations to companies, said Kevin Plexico, Input's executive vice president. It's the first such partnership the 27-year-old firm has entered into and is an exclusive arrangement, he said.

"We have much less defined relationships with other companies, but this is a more closely defined relationship than any other relationship we have," he said.

Input maintains databases of contracting opportunities and offers federal market analysis. The firm will get a stronger product as a result of the affiliation, Plexico said. "They have some third-party perspective on what information is needed, what information is actionable and particularly important to business."

"The relationship with Input is critical to this because they've got the data," Brubaker said. "What we do backed up with this empirical data will be a tremendous combination."