Smoothstack Inc
IT services and solutions provider
An IT services and solutions provider, Smoothstack Inc. creates net-new talent through its hire-train-deploy (HTD) approach. Its experienced team provides strategic consulting, project support, and talent growth in Application Development, Cloud, Digital Platforms, Data Engineering and AI, and Cybersecurity to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Its proven approach has supported more than 46 federal agencies with skilled IT talent at scale. Its corporate clients include Verizon, Morgan Stanley, Accenture, Bloomberg, and Intel.
Partners include AWS, Databricks, ServiceNow, Pega, Mulesoft, Salesforce, Workday, SAP, and the American Council on Education.
The Hire-Train-Deployment Process: The Next Evolution of Staffing Solutions
Departing from the traditional recruiting model, the McLean, Virginia-based company has transformed the IT hiring landscape and is building future IT leaders via a modern apprenticeship approach. Powered by AI and data science,
Smoothstack develops pathways for exceptional, diverse talent to enter the IT industry via a merit-driven system. It recruits software engineers at the start of their careers,guidingthemthroughaproprietaryprocessknownasMirroredEnvironment Immersion. This process mirrors the tech stack of its enterprise client partners, upskilling and retooling the talent pool before deploying them on client projects nationwide.
HTD begins with hiring people with the right aptitude for software engineering or other digital skills positions based on client requirements, posing no risk to them. They are trained in platforms and technologies that companies currently need. Candidates get hands-on experience developing apps or working in digital environments. The training process is anywhere from eight to 12 weeks to prepare individuals for their new job, beginning on day one. The workers are then deployed at the clients' sites for over two years.
SmoothstackInc.isresponsibleforvetting,hiring,andmanagingworkers,providing benefits, and payroll management while the client can continue its business with a newly expanded workforce. The talent acquisition company can source for any location and arrange to have workers move to their client sites, meeting the demand for talent in challenging geographies, including global spheres. Not only does the company find and train IT talent, but its model also solves the industry's staffing turnover pain point. It has a 98% retention rate for two years, much higher than the average.
The Company's Genesis: Bridging the IT Talent Shortage
Smoothstack was founded in 2018 by John Akkara, Boris Kuiper, and Prasanth Ram to help bridge the IT talent shortage gap for skilled software engineers. CEO Akkara previously led a global IT services firm headquartered in Connecticut and held roles at investment bank UBS and hedge fund Silver Point Capital. He also served as a Senior vice president at Bank of America.
COO and CFO Kuiper is an accomplished operations and finance executive with an impressive background as a strategic consultant in the financial industry and federal government space.
CTO Ram leads the company's strategic technology growth and direction, bringing over20yearsofinternationalexperienceinthearchitecture,design,implementation, and delivery of software in the enterprise market space.
With roots in IT consulting, the founders needed access to talent with specific capabilities and experience in emerging technologies to support their practice areas. Unable to find the necessary resources at scale, they built a talent pool using the proprietary HTD process to evaluate, hire, and train talent.
They successfully met their needs and decided to offer the Hire-Train-Deploy solution to clients and partners. "I started Smoothstack because I wanted to solve the talent shortage problem, and I wanted to take a different approach to how people were going about solvingthisproblem," said Akkarain an interview with the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA).
"Everyone's simultaneously going into that same pool of available talent in the market. We created a process where we vet and bring out the best of talent. In addition, we can make hiring decisions and mitigate all the biases that go into traditional hiring. We also created a repeatable and scalable process where our employer partners can hire individuals and bring them into the job pipeline consistently, quarter after quarter."
Smoothstack has deployed over 2,500 technologists to government agencies and enterprise organizations.
Company Achievements
ACE Certification
The American Council on Education (ACE) Learning Evaluations has evaluated and recommended college credit for nine of the company's courses. ACE Learning Evaluations helps adults gain academic credit for courses and examinations outside traditional degree programs. Aspiring software engineers who complete the company's training and apprenticeship program can receive up to 49 college credits for their experience in the following courses: Analytics and Insights Engineering, Cloud Data Platform Engineering, DevOps and DevSecOps, Full Stack Java, HighPerformance Computing, Machine Learning Operations Engineering, MuleSoft Engineering, Salesforce Platform Developer, and ServiceNow Developer.
ServiceNow-certified IT Professionals
In 2023, Smoothstack Inc. joined the RiseUp with ServiceNow global program to use its HTD approach to create ServiceNow-certified IT professionals and deploy them to Fortune 500 and federal government clients. ServiceNow is a cloud-based workflow automation platform enabling enterprise organizations to improve operational efficiencies by streamlining and automating routine tasks.
It also applies for an Elev8 Award through Orange Slices under its Federal Services. Elev8 Awards are given to companies that have demonstrated they met higher standards for culture, engagement, and giving back, corroborated by an employee and partner submission.
Support for Veterans and a Diverse Workforce
The company supports active military and veterans transitioning to post-military careers as an approved Industry Partner for the Department of Defense (DOD) SkillBridge program. Known as IT Warriors, the program reinforces the company's commitment to helping veterans successfully transition into the civilian workforce while addressing the growing demand for skilled technology professionals. In addition to IT Warriors, the staffing company participates in the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program, which implements long-term strategies to recruit, hire, and train Virginia veterans, and Education and Job Training Programs through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The company is also committed to supporting a diverse workforce. 58% of its talent are women and minorities, compared to the industry standard of 25%.
Smoothstack also supports working remotely when possible and assists with upskilling and returning to work for individuals re-entering the workplace after raising a family, changing careers, or making other life transitions.