PhoenixTeam Skillbridge

PhoenixTeam Approved as DOD SkillBridge Partner to Help Active-Duty Military Service Members Re-Enter Civilian Workforce

PhoenixTeam strengthens its mission to support U.S. Service Members’ transition into civilian life with the opportunity to work in specialized career areas.

ARLINGTON, VA, UNITED STATES, August 18, 2023 — Each year approximately 200,000 members of the U.S. Armed Forces, stationed in over 140 military installations in the U.S. and overseas, will leave active duty and re-enter the civilian workforce or pursue higher education. The Department of Defense (DOD) SkillBridge program was established to connect transitioning service members with industry partners offering real-world training and in-demand work experience while giving the partner an equal opportunity to evaluate the service members for future employment consideration. The DoD has approved PhoenixTeam as a SkillBridge program industry partner, allowing them to cultivate the best possible outcomes for service members as they re-enter the civilian workforce.

PhoenixTeam recently launched Blue Phoenix, a mentor-protégé joint venture (MPJV) with Blue Bay Business Delivery, LLC. Blue Phoenix represents the remarkable synergy achieved through the dynamic partnership of industry-leading experts at PhoenixTeam combined with the military ethos of Blue Bay. “We know first-hand the challenges service members face re-entering the civilian workforce,” says Melanie Lewis, Partner at PhoenixTeam and Blue Phoenix Executive. “Phoenix’s SkillBridge program is uniquely designed to integrate the military fundamentals of participating service members with industry skills and tools. There is no greater honor than to give back to those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom and safety.” Blue Phoenix exists to provide a career pathway for Veterans by empowering them to leverage their experiences, leadership skills, and mission-focused mindset to civilian roles within the technology industry, leading to greater and faster value realization for federal clients’ growing demand for IT excellence.

John Trodden, a Marine Corps Veteran, and Blue Phoenix’s Managing Partner, believes every Veteran deserves a chance to succeed in the community beyond their tour of duty. After the DOD announced PhoenixTeam’s approval, John reflected on his history with the SkillBridge program saying, “When I decided to retire after 25 years of service, my time as a DOD SkillBridge intern was invaluable….Talk about things coming full circle— now that PhoenixTeam is an officially verified SkillBridge Organization, I have no doubt they will catapult the careers of well-deserving veterans as they did for me. ”

Blue Phoenix, a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) advised by a board of accomplished PhoenixTeam business and tech experts, harnesses the value veterans offer beyond their military service. The DOD SkillBridge program provides an invaluable chance to work and learn in civilian career areas through specific industry training during the last 180 days of service. The DOD, PhoenixTeam, and Blue Phoenix share the same mission— to serve those who have served our nation honorably. With the DOD SkillBridge participation, PhoenixTeam and Blue Phoenix strengthen their ability to provide meaningful and gainful employment and enhance opportunities for returning service members to hit the ground running during their military-to-civilian career transition.

About PhoenixTeam:
PhoenixTeam is a technology company that specializes exclusively in the design, delivery, and care of mortgage technology solutions in federal and commercial spaces. Our dream is to enable affordable and accessible homeownership for all Americans through customer-centric technology solutions. We believe that by bringing joy and purpose back to software development while bridging the gap between technology and business teams, we can really make a difference in the lives of clients and homeowners everywhere. PhoenixTeam is a woman and minority-owned small business headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

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Blue Phoenix Awarded IT 70 Schedule
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Veteran Founded Technology Venture Blue Phoenix Expands Reach with GSA IT-70 Award

Blue Phoenix, specializing in technology design, delivery, and leadership excellence for federal agencies, awarded milestone GSA contract.

ARLINGTON, VA; July 24, 2023— Blue Phoenix, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), is proud to announce that the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) awarded an IT Schedule 70 Contract. Blue Phoenix recently launched as the result of a mentor-protégé joint venture (MPJV) between PhoenixTeam and Blue Bay Business Delivery, LLC. Blue Phoenix has over eight years of combined experience designing and leading the delivery of complex technology solutions and transformations in the federal sector. It provides an end-to-end technology offering that includes business and technology strategy, technology product management, solution architecture leadership, development and testing, and systems implementation services to include change management.

PhoenixTeam has over 25 years of experience specializing in the discovery and delivery of superior mortgage technology solutions. Blue Bay has over 25 years of military service and leadership and provides a pathway for service members to reintegrate into civilian life. Together as Blue Phoenix, Veterans are empowered to apply their leadership skills and mission-focused mindset to drive better technology and business outcomes. With this evolution, they will now cater to the Federal sector’s diverse technological needs with an all-encompassing range of solutions. Blue Phoenix is honored to provide value further while continuing to serve the country’s three largest Federal Housing Agencies, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Administration (FHA), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan Guaranty Service (LGY), and the Department of Agriculture Rural Development Service (USDA) Rural Development (RD), Blue Phoenix is broadening its reach to provide its unique services to non-housing agencies seeking technical excellence and delivery leadership.

“Launching Blue Phoenix one month ago is a vision realized,” said John Trodden, Managing Partner. “Announcing admission on the GSA Schedule today marks another milestone for us, one that allows Blue Phoenix to offer its expertise and services to help our United States Federal Agencies deliver on their technology promises and visions.” Trodden, who served in the Marines for over 25 years, says, “Blue Phoenix’s mission to “serve those who serve” is rooted in its commitment to provide Veterans employment opportunities as they transition into civilian life. We highlight and lean into the leadership skills and military fundamentals our service members used day in and day out to achieve mission success. As a result of the industry’s overwhelming interest in partnering with Blue Phoenix, we are thrilled to expand our services to serve all federal agencies in their journey to achieve their technology vision and mission.”

This long-term IT 70 Schedule (MAS) contract #47QSMD20R0001 adds Blue Phoenix to a pre-approved list of technology companies for federal purchases, making it easier for government agencies to receive high-quality, cost-effective digital solutions. IT Schedule 70 was established by GSA to assist federal, state, local, and tribal governments in procuring IT products and services to meet IT goals by giving agencies access to innovative solutions at pre-determined, negotiated prices. It is designed to streamline procedures and increase acquisition speed while providing inclusive access to businesses and supporting socioeconomic goals.

About Blue Phoenix
Blue Phoenix is a technology company specializing in delivering technology and program leadership excellence to federal clients. As a Joint Venture formed in 2023 between Phoenix Oversight Group, LLC (Mentor), and Blue Bay Business Delivery, LLC (Protégé), we deliver unparalleled end-to-end technology and business outcomes. We exist to “serve those who serve,” providing our country’s veterans an opportunity to leverage their experience and leadership in the civilian space. The combination of our technology expertise and military fundamentals is the answer the federal sector seeks to the growing demand for IT excellence. Blue Phoenix is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).

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PhoenixTeam proves value realization begins with product discovery

PhoenixTeam guided a mortgage technology start-up to increase speed to delivery by five times, focusing on the most important but often the most ignored part of the Product Development Lifecycle (PDLC), Product Discovery. With a magic combination of Phoenix’s expertise and a start-up’s willingness and hunger to realize value, together they saw an increase in customer satisfaction, stronger employee engagement, more engaged, empowered, and collaborative engineering teams, and reduced costs.

What started as an eight-week engagement focused on teaching and coaching discovery best practices evolved into an eight-month partnership to create and implement a custom product development framework focused on speed to understanding and value realization. The client’s new framework blended elements of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Large Scale Scrum (LeSS), and Teresa Torres’s Continuous Discovery Habits, amongst others, to fit the client’s unique culture and product organization. The outcome of the framework resulted in cost savings of $344K over the life of the engagement and reduced lead time to deliver new feature sets by over 60%. Stay tuned for the case study to learn more about PhoenixTeam’s impact on this Mortgage Technology Start-Up and why the client’s Vice President of Engineering said, “we got more done with the PhoenixTeam in six months than we’ve done in the previous 2.5 years”.

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PhoenixTeam Expands Relationship with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 9, 2020 – PhoenixTeam, a leading mortgage technology strategy and services provider, has expanded its long standing partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan Guaranty (LGY) Service.

As part of a new contract award to transform how LGY serves Veterans, lenders, appraisers, servicers and other industry stakeholders, PhoenixTeam will modernize LGY technology products to maximize opportunities for Veterans to obtain homeownership, retain their homes during times of financial difficulty and adapt their homes to better accommodate service-related disabilities.

PhoenixTeam is committed to delivering innovative solutions that significantly improve the home loan experience for Veterans. The company and their partners will design, deliver, maintain, and operate all VA technology supporting the LGY program. With vast mortgage industry, technology product management, software engineering and analytics expertise, PhoenixTeam is uniquely positioned to deliver on the promise of this new contract.

“Loan Guaranty has put forth an ambitious plan to modernize its home loan guaranty program with the goal of creating a frictionless home loan experience and making VA loans the top choice in the industry for veterans, lenders and servicers,” said Tom Westerlind, managing partner and CFO of PhoenixTeam. “Our working relationship with Loan Guaranty goes back to 2001. We’re committed to their mission and grateful for the continued opportunity to enrich the lives of those who served in the military.”

About PhoenixTeam

PhoenixTeam is a women-owned small business that provides mortgage technology solutions to improve the home loan experience for borrowers and help financial institutions, technology providers, and government agencies achieve their desired outcomes. With a focus exclusively on the mortgage industry, we delight clients and deliver better business solutions through technology implementation excellence. For more information, please visit www.phoenixoutcomes.com

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Project Management: A Quick Start Guide

This guide informs mortgage companies and partners who seek to improve their current enterprise IT model, adopt a product-oriented mindset, and who are not ready to implement a tech product approach.

Read on to understand more about PhoenixTeam’s approach. You may also download the guide by clicking the button at the bottom of the PDF viewer frame.

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Phoenix Helps Win Major U.S. Veterans Affairs Contract

ARLINGTON, Va. – PhoenixTeam (formerly Phoenix Oversight Group) is part of a group that has been awarded a major contract by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to modernize and enhance the existing loan oversight system for its Office of Information & Technology (OI&T). The VA Loan Electronic Reporting Interface Redesign (VALERI-R) task order, managed by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Loan Guaranty Division, has an estimated value of $16.3 million over a base performance period of 18 months.

The work done under VALERI-R will improve oversight capability over VA’s loan systems, increase security and reduce the costs to service and liquidate VA-guaranteed loans at the VBA. The group, led by Accenture Federal Services (AFS), will provide solutions that will modernize and replace the OI&T’s current systems with web-interface and integration components to enable automated loading of events and updates from VA mortgage servicers.

“It’s a great honor to be selected to work on the redesign of the VALERI system and help the VBA manage loans for veterans more effectively,” said Shawn Roman, who leads Accenture Federal Services’ work with VA clients. “The redesign will enable the VBA to incorporate new technology capabilities and business intelligence planning into its loan servicing process.”

As part of its work on the VALERI-R solution, AFS will build a cloud-based system using platform-as-a-service and software-as-a-service technologies and leveraging the Salesforce Platform for the case management and workflow components. The solution will also be Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO)-compliant, enabling the VBA to move to standardized reporting and data exchange formats that align to the mortgage industry.

As prime contractor, AFS will partner with subcontractors on the VALERI-R task order. Under the contract, PhoenixTeam – a mortgage technology consulting firm that supported the VBA Loan Guaranty Group during the original VALERI system build – will provide functional design leadership, business analysis, test planning and execution, and training services.

Also supporting the contract are Actualize Consulting, a mortgage technology company with many MISMO-certified practitioners that lead the industry in moving organizations to MISMO standards; and Liberty IT Solutions, a mission-centric Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business that supports multiple government agencies across a diverse portfolio of IT projects.

The VALERI-R task order has four optional tasks that may be exercised at the Government’s discretion during the option exercise period, which has a 54-month period commencing on the date of task order award. The overall period of performance shall not exceed 57 months, with a total value of $29 million.

About Accenture Federal Services
Accenture Federal Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Accenture LLP, is a U.S. company with offices in Arlington, Virginia. Accenture’s federal business has served every cabinet-level department and 30 of the largest federal organizations. Accenture Federal Services transforms bold ideas into breakthrough outcomes for clients at defense, intelligence, public safety, civilian and military health organizations.

About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 435,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives.

About PhoenixTeam 
PhoenixTeam is a small, woman-owned business focused on software product management and technology solution delivery. Phoenix specializes in serving federal housing agencies and the mortgage lending industry, helping deliver better business solutions through technology implementation excellence and closer solution alignment to customer needs.

About Actualize Consulting
Actualize Consulting is a professional services firm specializing in business process engineering and technology implementations for financial institutions. With offices in New York and Northern Virginia, they keep a finger on the ever-changing pulse of the Capital Markets, Treasury, Mortgage and Fixed Income areas. They serve mortgage firms, banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, Federal and State Government, as well as specific activities of Fortune 1000 firms.

About Liberty IT Solutions
Liberty IT Solutions, a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, dependably delivers innovative change to our customers’ most critical services, helping them achieve digital transformation that makes a measurable difference to the citizens they serve.

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