Feb 28, 2018   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Selects Octo to Develop, Manage and Modernize IT Application Development

Octo Consulting Group (Octo), a premier next-generation IT Federal services provider, announced they were awarded a five-year, $26 million contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to provide full life-cycle development support that will include both operations and maintenance, as well as development, modernization, and enhancement (DME) of SAMHSA’s Information Technology (IT) applications.

Following Congress’ direction, SAMHSA leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation, and reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities. SAMHSA is continually improving the delivery and financing of prevention, treatment, and recovery support services to provide a cost-effective opportunity to advance and protect the Nation’s health. SAMHSA emphasizes the importance of data analysis, systems integration, and the use of advanced technologies in achieving mission goals and has set health information technology (HIT) as a key priority.

In support of this effort, SAMHSA’s Division of Technology Management (DTM) selected Octo to support internal applications where varying technologies and data solutions are leveraged for operational excellence. These applications enable and strengthen contract, consultant, grant, project, and administrative staff functions. Octo will be responsible for providing support to the SAMHSA Internet, Intranet, Extranet, and document collaboration tools in alignment with SAMHSA’s mission.

“We are elated to have been awarded this contract to support such an important mission for our nation,” said Jay Shah, EVP, Health and Federal Civilian Accounts. “SAMHSA DTM’s application support requires a nimble and responsive team that understands the ever-changing dynamic of an environment with dozens of applications serving over 700 employees and contractors across four centers.”

This contract marks Octo’s first engagement with SAMHSA and ongoing expansion within the Federal healthcare marketplace. Octo will use incremental development through Agile Methodologies, and its experience gained through past performances within HHS’ Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), among others. This task order was competed on the CIO-SP3 Small Business contract, including “Other Than Small” business.

About Octo Consulting Group

Octo is an industry-leading, award-winning provider of technology and modernization services for the Federal government. Octo specializes in providing agile software development, user experience design, and cloud engineering services that address the government’s most pressing missions and challenges.

Octo is one of only 11 private companies in the United States to have been appraised at CMMI® Level 4 for Software Development Maturity (CMMI-DEV). Additionally, Octo maintains ISO 9001, ISO 20000, and ISO 27001 certifications and is one of only seven government contractors that is a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) Gold Partner: an industry-accepted framework for developing software applications using Agile development principles.

Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Octo has additional offices in Alexandria, Virginia and Columbia, Maryland. Learn more at octoconsulting.com.