Budget

Strategies for Maximizing Services AND Product Business Lines

June 15th at 10 AM Companies that sell products to the Federal Government are always looking for ways to expand into more lucrative and higher margin service o...

Federal News Network Staff

June 10, 2010 2:32 am

3 min read

wfedstaff | June 3, 2015 7:13 am

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June 15th at 10 AM

Companies that sell products to the Federal Government are always looking for ways to expand into more lucrative and higher margin service offerings. And service providers are often looking for product offerings to round out their business lines. Either way, it’s easier said than done. However, on this week’s Gov Con Straight Talk with Microsoft you’ll hear from a panel of top executives who know what it takes to successfully grow products and services business lines to the Federal Government.

Guests:

Christine Zmuda– Government Contractor Engagement Manager, Microsoft
Bernard Mustafa– CEO, Pleasant Valley Business Solutions (PVBS)
Rich Marksberry– CEO, ROM & Associates, LLC

About the Guests:

Christine Zmuda
Government Contractor Engagement Manager
Microsoft

In her 14 year tenure, Christine Zmuda has held several leadership and individual contributor positions at Microsoft. A pioneer at heart, much of her focus has been in early phase businesses at Microsoft. In the late nineties, Ms. Zmuda was part of a small team that brought Microsoft’s first software as a service offering to market effectively growing that business to $75M in three years. Ms. Zmuda went on to lead the Midatlantic Platform business which was a $220M business with the focus of growing the midmarket infrastructure and applications installed base. In her current role, Ms. Zmuda leads the Microsoft Dynamics Strategy for financial management and contract management for government contractors. In this capacity, Ms. Zmuda works with the Microsoft product teams and extended partner solution provider teams to ensure Microsoft Dynamics meets the unique requirements of government cost accounting. Ms. Zmuda also leads much of the government community based efforts to include executive events as well as a blog for Government Contractors.

Prior to Microsoft, Ms. Zmuda was employed by Mobil Oil prior to the Exxon acquisition. At Mobil Oil, MS. Zmuda worked on one of the first EDI projects which automated inventory payments for US based company owned service stations. Her last position at Mobil involved working on several technology programs oriented at improving the customer experience like the Mobil Speed Pass, which remains a differentiator for Mobil Oil today.

Ms. Zmuda is a graduate of Michigan State University (B.A. degree) and American University (M.B.A.) Ms. Zmuda is a member of Secaf.org, Women in Technology, and the Professional Services Council. Ms. Zmuda also holds a board position on the Technology Council of Maryland.

Bernard Mustafa
CEO
Pleasant Valley Business Solutions (PVBS)

Bernard Mustafa is the Chief Executive Officer of Pleasant Valley Business Solutions (PVBS). He is responsible for company operations, policy, customer programs and corporate strategy. Prior to joining PVBS, Bernard was President of Copia Enterprises which provided financial and technology consulting services to federal government agencies and commercial clients. Prior to Copia, he was the Chief Operating Officer at Standard Technology Inc., a government contractor with 200 employees in 16 states and was a director at the American Express Tax & Business Service, leading the Rockville office of American Express’s accounting and consulting division. Bernard also was the director of the Chemistry Division and Finance and Administration for Corning Hazleton. Bernard holds a BS in Accounting from the University of Baltimore, an MBA in Finance from the Morgan State University, has served in the United States Army, and is a certified public accountant.

Rich Marksberry
CEO
ROM & Associates, LLC

Rich Marksberry has over 25 years of experience in accounting and technology consulting. He has consulted for many companies, concentrating on government contracting, construction and engineering, manufacturing and wholesale, travel and retail distribution industries. During the last four years, as the CFO, Rich led the selection and implementation of accounting systems for three federal contractors each with product and services revenues over $100 million annually. These implementations included the design and development of the internal controls and related policies, procedures and reporting, including documentation for numerous certifications.