Criterion Systems, L.L.C.

Criterion Systems, L.L.C., a tribally owned and minority-owned small business based in McLean, Virginia, delivers cybersecurity management, IT infrastructure, systems engineering, and professional services to federal civilian and defense agencies as a prime contractor (90% of recent awards) competing full and open without set-aside designations. The vendor is a subsidiary of Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC, a Native American-owned enterprise, and operates alongside a named subsidiary, Protas Solutions, L.L.C., also tribally owned and minority certified.

Criterion's customer concentration spans 38 agencies across a $33.76 billion combined potential-value portfolio, but concentration is sharp at the top. The Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health NITAAC Office of Information Technology Acquisition anchors 63% of combined potential value with two awards totaling $20 billion, driven by Criterion's seat on the CIO-SP3 Small Business Government-Wide Acquisition Contract. The Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration ranks second with 14 awards worth $540.9 million combined potential, followed by the Department of Commerce US Patent and Trademark Office (9 awards, $240.2 million), the Department of Agriculture Office of the Chief Information Officer (4 awards, $228.7 million), and the Department of Energy Chief Information Officer (2 awards, $113.3 million). By award count, the ranking shifts: the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service leads at 15 awards ($74.3 million), followed by DOE/NNSA (14 awards), the Air Force Space Command Space and Missile Systems Center (10 awards), the Executive Office of the President Office of Administration (9 awards), and the Department of Commerce USPTO (9 awards), accounting for 45% of total award volume. The vendor's NAICS footprint concentrates in Computer Facilities Management Services (51 awards), Computer Systems Design Services (37 awards), and Other Computer Related Services (17 awards), with Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing representing 10 awards — a signal of defense-sector exposure.

Criterion holds positions on five major vehicles. The GSA Multiple Award Schedule serves as the largest vehicle by both task-order count (65 orders) and combined potential value ($889.8 million); representative recent delivery orders include a $55.8 million firm fixed price order from NNSA's CIO for IT coordination and cybersecurity protection (January 30, 2025, completion January 31, 2026), a $4.925 million labor-hour order from the National Science Foundation for cybersecurity and privacy services (March 1, 2026, completion February 28, 2027, performance Alexandria, Virginia), a $2.959 million NSF labor-hour order for cybersecurity and privacy services (September 1, 2025, completion February 28, 2026), and a $5.87 million firm fixed price order from the Department of Commerce for IT support services (January 15, 2023, completion January 14, 2024). The Information Technology Schedule 70 vehicle carries 18 task orders ($373.8 million combined potential). Criterion also holds the Cybersecurity Information and Program Services (CSIPS) Blanket Purchase Agreement, a $46.2 million Department of Transportation vehicle through March 2026, supporting 11 task orders ($33.3 million combined potential) across federal agencies including the Maritime Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and Federal Railroad Administration. The Alliant Small Business GWAC anchors 10 task orders worth $288.1 million. Most significantly, Criterion was awarded the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) Multiple Award IDIQ by the Missile Defense Agency on December 29, 2025, with a $151 billion ceiling through December 28, 2035 — a full and open competition vehicle supporting comprehensive research and development, systems engineering, weapons design, production, test and evaluation, and cybersecurity for multi-domain defense. An initial $500 delivery order under SHIELD was issued December 29, 2025, with performance in Huntsville, Alabama.

Recent activity shows volatility: five awards in 2022, seven in 2023, twelve in 2024, eight in 2025, and one in 2026 through the source date. Five awards (combined potential value $17.7 million) face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure. The SCI dataset, capturing federal service contracts above $150,000 threshold and spanning FY2022–FY2024, reports $175 million total invoiced across 73 records (58 prime, 15 as named subcontractor). SCI-reported invoicing declined from $72.8 million in FY2022 (206 FTEs) to $52.2 million in FY2023 (211 FTEs) to $50 million in FY2024 (205 FTEs), reflecting contract closeouts and recompete transitions rather than organic growth. On federal service contracts captured in SCI, median government-paid rates ran around $130.15 per hour, with senior labor pricing reaching $184.70 per hour (90th percentile) and entry-level administrative support at $102.83 per hour (10th percentile). The vendor's GSA Schedule labor portfolio spans 87 categories, ranging from $61.83 per hour (Administrative Assistant, high school education) through $266.42 per hour (Senior Program Manager — Cybersecurity, bachelor's degree, 8 years experience), with no security-cleared roles offered.

Criterion operates as a prime on most work (90% of awards) with light subcontractor engagement. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors account for 5% of total contractor hours, with 44 named subcontractors identified across the prime footprint, including Accenture Federal Services, Lockheed Martin, Data Networks Inc., Tvar Solutions LLC, World Wide Technology LLC, Blue TECH Inc., CTG Federal LLC, Thundercat Technology LLC, and Knot Technology Solutions LLC. In its subcontractor role, Criterion supports Lockheed Martin on multiple incremental-funding and phase-transition modifications for an unspecified intelligence, surveillance, or systems integration program (nine sub-awards between September 2024 and February 2025), Gcyber LLC on information assurance and IT services to the Executive Office of the President (two sub-awards, 2021–2023), and Agile Decision Sciences LLC on Office of Workers Compensation Programs business application support (one sub-award, March 2024). The vendor's subcontracting pattern indicates a primary focus on direct prime delivery with selective use of specialized subs for hardware procurement, cloud services, network security, and IT infrastructure components, rather than a feeder or capacity-extension model. Criterion competes without set-aside protections across its footprint, operating in full and open competitions against larger and smaller incumbents, and derives the majority of its federal revenue from labor-hour and firm fixed price delivery orders under perpetual-renewal schedule and BPA vehicles rather than from single-award IDIQs.