The United States Federal Government has spent the past several years pushing hard to modernize its information technology systems. It has invested billions of dollars in an effort to speed its digital transformation and lay to rest much of the legacy technology that underpins its critical operations. With agencies reportedly spending more than $8 billion on cloud computing services in 2021, it’s only natural that companies that provide government cloud services would attract the attention of firms looking to grow their federal portfolio. To that end, a global management and technology consulting firm has recently acquired a cloud services company with a strong history of successfully delivering federal projects.
In a December 2021 press release, advisory and digital services provider ICF announced the purchase of McLean, VA-based technology consulting firm Creative Systems and Consulting. The firm’s 270 person team offers services and solutions in digital transformation, cloud, infrastructure, strategy, and analytics to a range of government agencies, with substantial experience in Salesforce, Microsoft, and ServiceNow. It has supported more than 200 federal cloud and infrastructure projects since its 2010 founding, and expects to report roughly $60 million in revenue in 2021, putting its growth in the mid-teens.
"This transaction is aligned with our strategy of pairing organic growth with select acquisitions that strengthen ICF's position in key growth markets," said John Wasson, Chairman and CEO of ICF. "Creative's expertise in cloud development considerably expands our qualifications in the federal IT modernization/digital transformation arena, and the company has delivered flagship work with many civilian agencies that have been long-standing clients of ICF, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury."
ICF’s move will strengthen its digital transformation practice, which supports clients in service design, analytics, cloud, managed services, and workforce development. The firm is publicly listed on the Nasdaq and employs roughly 7,500 people across its more than 70 global offices.
As the U.S. federal government continues its push to bring its IT systems into the modern age, it’s likely the ongoing trend of acquisitions of federal cloud contractors will continue, as firms look to broaden their reach and take advantage of the White House’s requested $109.4 billion in IT funding.
