Modernizing NewWave from the Inside Out
When people think about modernization, they usually think about client systems — federal platforms, data warehouses, cloud migrations, digital services. But some of the most important transformation work I’ve done happened internally at NewWave.
At the time, NewWave was growing quickly. We were taking on larger, more complex federal health programs. We were expanding our engineering footprint. Innovation wasn’t a buzzword — it was the business model. But growth at that speed exposes friction. Legacy HR systems, aging collaboration tools, inconsistent infrastructure, manual compliance tracking — those things become bottlenecks fast.
If we wanted to be a modern health IT company, we had to operate like one.
So we rebuilt the foundation.
One of the first major moves was migrating our HR ecosystem to Workday. That wasn’t just a system swap — it was a cultural shift toward data-driven workforce management. Suddenly we had real-time insight into recruiting pipelines, performance management, staffing forecasts, and compliance reporting. As a services company operating in federal health, your people are your product. Modernizing that core system gave leadership clarity and agility we simply didn’t have before.
At the same time, we moved the organization into Microsoft 365. That transition unlocked secure collaboration at scale — version-controlled documentation, remote accessibility, identity-driven security controls, and a much stronger governance posture. It may sound basic today, but at the time it fundamentally changed how teams worked together, especially as federal requirements around security tightened.
But the real transformation wasn’t just SaaS adoption — it was architectural.
We pushed aggressively toward cloud infrastructure internally, reducing reliance on physical environments and embracing elasticity, automation, and centralized monitoring. The goal was simple: practice what we preach. If we were helping federal agencies modernize, our own infrastructure had to reflect those same principles.
One of the initiatives I’m most proud of was establishing a Rapid Development Environment. We created a secure sandbox where engineers could prototype quickly, build proof-of-concepts, and experiment without bureaucratic drag. CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, secure code repositories — we wanted velocity without sacrificing governance.
That balance between speed and discipline became a theme.
Federal cybersecurity requirements were evolving quickly. Risk management frameworks were tightening. Agencies were raising the bar. Instead of reacting to compliance mandates, we leaned into them. We strengthened continuous monitoring, formalized metrics-driven process control, and institutionalized performance management frameworks.
That work ultimately supported our progression to CMMI Level 4 — a milestone that signals quantitatively managed, data-driven operational maturity. But more important than the certification was what it represented: predictability, accountability, and engineering rigor.
Around that period, NewWave was gaining recognition for innovation and digital transformation in the federal health space. But innovation doesn’t scale without operational backbone. The modernization of our HR systems, collaboration platforms, cloud infrastructure, development pipelines, and cybersecurity posture created that backbone.
Internal transformation rarely makes headlines. It doesn’t show up in press releases the way contract awards do. But it determines whether a company can scale, adapt to evolving government mandates, and continue delivering at a high level under pressure.
Modernizing NewWave internally wasn’t glamorous work. It was foundational work. And it ensured that as the company grew, the systems supporting it were resilient, secure, and built for the long term.
If you’d like, I can also draft a short LinkedIn version that highlights this as a leadership and operational scaling story rather than a technical one.
Also talk about Environmental IT and helping to build out 3 new office locations Newwave Collaboration Center, Conference Center, and Lord Baltimore Office Locations. Find articles about these
Modernizing NewWave — Inside and Out
When I think about the work I did at NewWave, it wasn’t just about digital transformation for clients — it was about transforming the company itself. Behind the scenes of federal IT contracts and customer success stories was a parallel effort to build an internal organization that could operate at the same level of scale, agility, and innovation that we were delivering externally.
That work touched everything from HR and cloud infrastructure to collaboration spaces and physical office environments. It’s the kind of work that doesn’t always make headlines, but it’s foundational to long-term growth and impact.
A New Era of Workforce Systems
One of the first big pieces of this journey was modernizing our enterprise tools from the ground up. We led the company-wide migration of core systems like HR into Workday, bringing recruiting, performance management, analytics, and workforce planning into a single, integrated cloud platform.
At the same time, we rolled out Microsoft 365 across the organization — moving collaboration, mail, and document systems to a secure, scalable environment that supported remote work, real-time co-authoring, and enterprise identity controls.
But the modernization didn’t stop with off-the-shelf systems. We built out a rapid development environment that gave engineering teams a safe, automated space to prototype, test, and deploy tools faster than ever before — enabling velocity without compromising security or compliance.
All of this was happening against a backdrop of evolving federal cybersecurity standards, so we also strengthened our security and compliance posture, implementing continuous monitoring, governance frameworks, and metrics-driven performance tracking that contributed to achieving CMMI Level 4 maturity — something very few GovTech firms can claim.
Offices That Reflect a Modern Culture
Transformation wasn’t just digital — it was physical.
In 2018, NewWave opened what became known as the NewWave Collaboration Center in Baltimore County — an open, technology-rich workspace designed to spark creativity and innovation among teams. The ribbon cutting marked a moment of growth and intention: a space where people could come together, ideate, and build with purpose.
But that was just the beginning. As the company continued to expand, NewWave announced a major enhancement to its physical presence — a brand-new Innovation Conference Center and the Windsor Mill Main Campus at 3200 Lord Baltimore Drive. This two-story facility included offices, scrum rooms, huddle spaces, and state-of-the-art video conferencing designed to support everything from internal collaboration to joint workshops with federal partners, including CMS and the Innovation Center.
These spaces weren’t just square footage — they reflected a philosophy. They were built for:
real collaboration across disciplines
client workshops and government co-creation
innovation meetings that blur the line between engineering and mission delivery
environments where teams could operate like they were building the next generation of technology — because they were
It was part of creating a culture of innovation in place, not just in code.
Strengthening Cybersecurity and Organizational Resilience
As we modernized tools and spaces, the threat landscape was evolving too. Federal cybersecurity requirements were tightening, and as NewWave continued to win and deliver on complex health IT contracts, we needed to operate with the same discipline we expected from our clients.
So as we modernized systems and expanded offices, we were also strengthening cybersecurity governance — embedding security into cloud architectures, development pipelines, and team workflows. This wasn’t an add-on; it was central to how we operated.
Achieving CMMI Level 4 — a maturity level that reflects fully quantitative and controlled processes — was a reflection of that work, not an end in itself. It meant that across HR systems, cloud infrastructure, rapid dev environments, and operational processes, we were running mature, measurable, and continuously improving systems.
Why All of This Matters
When people ask me what modernization really looks like, I point to works like this.
It’s not just migrating HR systems or moving to the cloud.
It’s not just building offices or standing up new tools.
It’s about creating an environment where people can do their best work, where technology supports rather than constrains, and where internal systems reflect the same principles you champion for clients: agility, security, data-driven decision-making, and collaboration.
The modernization work I led at NewWave — from HR migrations and O365 transition to cloud infrastructure, rapid development environments, cyber maturity, and physical collaboration spaces — helped transform the organization into something more adaptable, resilient, and future-ready.
And the payoff isn’t just internal efficiency. It’s the ability to show up for clients with confidence, with systems that scale, and with teams that can deliver at a level most others can’t match.
