Innovative IT Solutions for Your Business

Echelon Strategies was created to continue a tradition of service to our Nation. We are privileged to work with and among men and women who have spent careers wearing various uniforms of service to our great country. Echelon Strategies came to be in order to satisfy that “service itch” that we all felt while in uniform…we serve those who continue to serve us. As we like to say, “You can take the person out of the Service, but you can’t take the service out of the person.”

Wikipedia provides three definitions that provide insight into why the name was chose.
~ A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society.
~ Echelon formation, a military hierarchical formation, also used to describe the migratory patterns of birds
~ ECHELON, a worldwide intelligence-gathering operation (This definition was an unexpected confirmation of the choice of the name Echelon)

Digging a little deeper, the main inspiration can be found in the text of basic military maneuver warfare doctrine. An “echelon formation” is an infantry patrolling formation in which riflemen are arranged diagonally from front to back, with each rifleman positioned behind and offset to the right (or left) of the rifleman in front. The name of the formation comes from the French word “échelle”, meaning ladder, which describes the staircase effect that this formation has when viewed from above. An “echelon right (or left)” is ordered when there is potential enemy threat to the right somewhere along their patrolling route. However, this formation allows the entire unit to address an enemy threat from any direction (front, back, left, or right) with maximum firepower: all weapons can fire because each rifleman is positioned in such a way that they do not cut off the ability for their fellow riflemen to fire their weapons. This philosophy is evident in our work: as we move towards our objective, we diligently scan the periphery for potential obstacles and when necessary, bring to bear all the “weapons” in our arsenal to reduce those obstacles and achieve our objective.

Another of inspiration relates to the government acquisition hierarchy itself. Successfully introducing your offerings to a desired federal customer is a significant effort: one must know of, engage, and garner interest from all of the stakeholders involved in the program. These individuals may include the end user, the project officer, the program manager, the contracting officer, the General or SES, and even the Secretary. Each level, or echelon of command, requires a different approach or strategy…”Echelon Strategies”.

The ability to manage projects, people, processes, deliverables, and customers is a daunting but vital requirement. However, effective communication between all stakeholders in the program is second to none. Echelon integrates an online program management system that provides real time updates as our program and project leaders work towards their objectives. We embraced the value of social networking and have incorporated that mindset into our daily operations. No more wasted man hours on Fridays typing, editing, and refining weekly reports…simply log-on and review the “facebook-like” status updates and watch as your vision becomes reality.