Celebrating 1 Year with the Agile Center of Excellence

June 2022 marks one year since Booz Allen acquired Liberty IT Solutions, including the company’s 40,000-square-foot Agile Center of Excellence (ACE) in Melbourne, Florida.  

Since 2014, the ACE has served as an innovation hub for agile development—helping to drive digital transformation across the federal IT ecosystem. Much of the ACE’s work today focuses on software development for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), particularly API, microservices, and Salesforce solutions.  

“Through the ACE, we’ve been able to provide a robust API platform for the VA’s Product Engineering team complete with full documentation, many self-service features, and high reliability,” said Booz Allen Principal Travis Mashburn. “This platform can be leveraged across other VA teams and replicated for other government agencies seeking API capabilities.”  

In addition to expanding Booz Allen’s agile capabilities, the ACE delivers tremendous value in the form of top talent and critical connections.  

“The ACE brings Booz Allen into the Space Coast fold with all the associated benefits, including access to the area’s premier engineering talent,” said Booz Allen Senior Vice President Mark Merz, former chief operating officer of Liberty. “Brevard County, where Melbourne is located, is one of the most technical areas per capita in the country. The area began attracting technical innovators in the 1960s with the space program and is now home to companies like Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, and Boeing.”  

“Booz Allen is its people, and people are the ACE’s greatest asset,” said Chief Engineer Andy Parcel. He emphasized a commitment to expanding the ACE team by hiring the best of the best. “Many of our current engineers, product managers, and program managers came here from the private sector or other agencies. They are contributing their extraordinary expertise to new domains, challenges, and opportunities in the federal realm.”  

Since acquiring the ACE, Booz Allen has added 100 new people, bringing the total employee count to 350. This growth was driven in part by the need to support two large task order awards received in the past year. “Both contracts combined offer us a minimum $1.7 billion ceiling with tremendous growth potential for our presence in the area,” said Mashburn.  

The ACE forecast calls for continued growth, with plans to create high-paying jobs and attract talent from the town’s technical university, Florida Tech. “We’re contemplating future hiring events and will continue to push employee referrals as primary mechanisms for achieving this growth,” said Mashburn. 

To complement talent-acquisition efforts, Booz Allen has emphasized employee retention by fostering an exceptional work environment. The firm has made substantial upgrades to the facility’s IT infrastructure, replacing ethernet cables, installing more expansive and reliable Wi-Fi, and adding new video teleconferencing technology in conference rooms.  

The facility also received new murals, including a “Wall of Heroes” that recognizes veterans related to ACE employees. “The wall will serve as a great mission reminder for the work we’re doing in support of the Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Merz. 

Though most employees have worked remotely through the pandemic, plans are underway to welcome in-person and hybrid staff back to the facility later this summer. A Grand Reopening event is being planned around that timeframe, with several special guests planning to attend.