After almost 10 years of dedicated service to COLSA, Deanna Iovino has been promoted to Director of Compliance. Not only is this a significant milestone for Deanna, but it’s also a significant milestone for COLSA.
COLSA continues to grow, and so does our need for more integrated processes across COLSA. A Compliance department, aligned with the CIO’s division, will allow us to comply with all current and future standards for continuing the work we do.
More about Deanna
Deanna has been a key team member within the IT Operations team and a go-to resource for many companywide.
Deanna is a University of Alabama in Huntsville alum with a degree in Management Information Systems. She brings help desk, technical writing, configuration management experience, as well as leading our successful ISO 27001 certification to her role as Director of Compliance, and each of those roles helped shape her analytical and leadership skills.
Joe Bennett, CIO at COLSA and Deanna’s supervisor said, “Deanna has earned the trust of leadership and peers alike, and I’m excited to see her elevate Compliance to the next level.”
What exactly is the Compliance department?
The Quality team, including David Johnson, Blake Brenton, and Daveeta Banks, has done an exceptional job earning and maintaining our ISO 9001 and AS 9100D certifications. Additionally, the Quality department played a critical role in the COLSA Software Factory’s achievement of CMMI-DEV Maturity Level 3. Their dedication and commitment to excellence have positioned our organization for continued success and set a strong foundation for future growth and achievement.
The criticality of compliance continues to evolve. In response to the growing changes in requirements, COLSA is integrating compliance across the enterprise to continuously improve our processes.
The COLSA Compliance department ensures alignment with all regulatory and contractual requirements including CMMC, ISO 27001, ISO 9001, AS 9100D, and CMMI frameworks. Centralizing the department provides consistency in our processes and allows information to be effectively used across all compliance frameworks.
Employees can expect more standardized processes, improved communication, and increased collaboration across departments. Coming soon, COLSA will launch a centralized Compliance hub where employees may access information about upcoming assessments, requirements, and their specific roles in each assessment.
Is Compliance part of IT?
What maybe has gone unnoticed over the past few years is that the “IT team” was transformed by our CIO, Joe Bennett. He noticed that many of his stellar employees would not have a chance to advance in the company unless he expanded his division. He also knew and understood, that it was no longer a “nice to have” but a necessity to grow his division in response to COLSA’s continued growth to better support the entire company.
With that in mind, he expanded his division to not only include IT Operations, which is essential, but also, Cybersecurity, Solutions, and now Compliance. That’s why the term “IT Department” doesn’t quite cover it anymore, and instead it has grown into the CIO division.
“It’s important for our employees to know that when we say ‘Grow with Us’ in our hiring materials, we mean it companywide,” said Joe Bennett, CIO at COLSA. ”This is a place you can come and grow wherever you are located.”
Certain certifications are required in order to bid on work, while other certifications increase our chances of winning that work. By aligning Compliance with the CIO division, we strengthen collaboration across the Cybersecurity, IT Operations, and Solutions teams while keeping strong partnerships across the business.
Growth for Deanna means growth for COLSA
This change in the organization means that COLSA knows how to respond and grow in an ever-evolving government contracting environment. It also means that hard-working employees like Deanna have a place at COLSA to grow their careers and invest in future success.
“I’m excited for the challenge,” said Deanna, ”Compliance is a critical part of the company, and I’m eager to take on a role that supports operational excellence while ensuring standards and requirements are consistently met. I look forward to learning, contributing my skills, and working collaboratively with the team to strengthen and improve our compliance processes.”
Why Deanna chooses COLSA
We asked Deanna why she chooses to grow her career and COLSA:
“I choose COLSA because of my previous experience here and the strong sense of community I’ve seen firsthand. The support and collaborative culture make it an environment that I feel like I can continue to grow.”
As a Family of Professionals, work-life balance means a lot to us. Outside of work, Deanna is a huge hockey fan who loves attending local games along with traveling to see many of her favorite teams play. You can almost always catch her at a rink during hockey season. She also loves traveling and took her first international trip to Italy last year. The beach is another one of her happy places that she tries to visit as often as possible.
Grow with Us
As COLSA grows, we continuously seek qualified talent to join our Family of Professionals. Check out our Careers page to learn more about working for COLSA.
