Criterion Systems, L.L.C.

Criterion Systems, L.L.C., a tribally owned and minority-owned small business headquartered in McLean, Virginia, operates as a prime contractor (90% of recent awards) delivering cybersecurity management, IT infrastructure, systems engineering, and professional services to federal civilian and defense agencies. The vendor competes full and open without set-aside designation, competing against unrestricted competition on civilian agency vehicles while holding a seat on the Missile Defense Agency's $151 billion Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) multiple-award IDIQ awarded December 29, 2025.

Criterion Systems is a subsidiary of Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC, a tribally owned enterprise registered in Oklahoma. The vendor operates alongside a named subsidiary, Protas Solutions, L.L.C., also tribally owned and minority-owned with identical SBA certifications. Across the prime footprint, Criterion competes in full-and-open procurements rather than set-asides; tribal ownership and minority status appear in business-type filings but do not drive the contract vehicle strategy.

Customer concentration clusters around civilian IT modernization and defense missile-systems work. The top five customer agencies by award count account for 44% of recent awards and span the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (15 awards, $74.3 million), the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (14 awards, $540.9 million), the Department of Commerce US Patent and Trademark Office (9 awards, $240.2 million), the Executive Office of the President Office of Administration (9 awards, $4.1 million), and the Department of the Air Force Space Command Space and Missile Systems Center (10 awards). The dollar rankings diverge sharply: by potential value, the National Institutes of Health's NITAAC Office of Information Technology Acquisition leads with $20 billion in two awards (reflecting Criterion's position on the CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC), followed by NNSA at $540.9 million. This dual concentration — high award volume from civilian IT customers and disproportionate dollar exposure to defense and health IT vehicles — signals platform-dependent revenue.

Recent prime awards demonstrate capability breadth across labor-hour and firm-fixed-price structures. A $55.8 million firm-fixed-price delivery order from NNSA's Chief Information Officer, awarded January 30, 2025 and running through January 31, 2026, supplies IT coordination and cybersecurity protection services in Washington, DC with major subcontractors including Tvar Solutions, World Wide Technology, Blue TECH Inc., CTG Federal, and Thundercat Technology delivering cloud services, network security, and IT infrastructure. A $7.2 million labor-hour delivery order from the National Science Foundation, awarded March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027, provides cybersecurity and privacy services in Alexandria, Virginia. A $6.66 million BPA call under the Department of Transportation's Cybersecurity Information and Program Services (CSIPS) vehicle, established September 30, 2023 through September 29, 2026, funds cybersecurity management support in Washington, DC under Task Area 3. A $4.09 million CSIPS BPA call from the Maritime Administration, awarded September 30, 2025 through September 29, 2028, supports IT and cybersecurity policy planning, development, and implementation in Washington, DC. Additional recent work includes Federal Highway Administration delivery orders for cybersecurity management support ($758,089 ceiling, September 29, 2026 through March 28, 2028, and $758,089 ceiling, September 23, 2026 through March 22, 2028, both in West McLean, VA) and a $3.24 million CSIPS BPA call from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for cybersecurity program support (March 15, 2023 through March 14, 2026).

Criterion Systems holds positions on five major parent vehicles. The Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) carries 67 task orders with $893.7 million combined potential value; the vendor's GSA schedule ceiling is $750,000 with 87 labor categories spanning administrative support at $61.83 per hour through senior program managers in cybersecurity at $266.42 per hour, covering no security-cleared positions. Information Technology Schedule 70 anchors 18 task orders valued at $373.8 million. The CSIPS BPA carries 11 task orders worth $34.1 million. Alliant Small Business supports 10 task orders totaling $288.1 million. The CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC ($20 billion vehicle managed by the National Institutes of Health) underpins Criterion's largest dollar concentration. The SHIELD IDIQ, awarded in December 2025, positions Criterion to compete across research and development, prototyping, systems engineering, weapons design, production, test and evaluation, cybersecurity, and modernization for multi-domain defense capabilities.

Activity has grown unevenly: five awards in 2022, seven in 2023, twelve in 2024, eight in 2025, and three in 2026 year-to-date. Five awards with combined potential value $16.3 million reach ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months, representing limited recompete exposure in the visible window. Across 130 total awards (prime and sub, all federal sources), combined potential value reaches $33.77 billion, though combined dollars obligated stand at $813 million (2% of potential value), reflecting the portfolio's heavy weighting toward large indefinite vehicles with modest initial task orders.

The top NAICS codes reflect IT service concentration: Computer Facilities Management Services (52 awards), Computer Systems Design Services (37 awards), Other Computer Related Services (18 awards), and Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing (10 awards). Professional services and systems engineering support round out the category mix.

In its subcontractor role, Criterion Systems delivers work to Lockheed Martin Corp on multiple modifications to Integrated Command and Staff contracts (phases II and III), with eight documented sub-award modifications across 2024–2025, suggesting sustained engagement on a large defense prime's IT and systems work. Criterion also subcontracts to Agile Decision Sciences, LLC for Office of Workers Compensation Programs business application support and to Gcyber LLC for data validation and integrity services under an Executive Office of the President information systems implementation.

SCI-reported invoiced federal services revenue totals $216.2 million across FY2022–FY2025 (prime records). Fiscal-year invoicing declined from $72.8 million in FY2022 to $41.2 million in FY2025, with FTE trajectory volatile: 269 FTEs in FY2022, dropping to 194 in FY2023, recovering to 227 in FY2024, and declining to 148 in FY2025. Government-paid median hourly rates run $130.15 per hour on prime contracts (10th percentile $101.58, 90th percentile $177.66), positioning the vendor in the mid-market technical-labor band. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors account for approximately 5% of total contractor hours, with 53 named subcontractors reported; Criterion builds its own delivery teams rather than operating as a feeder for larger primes, though Lockheed Martin and other large defense primes bring Criterion in as a sub on their major programs.