Pragmatics History

In 1985, Pragmatics CEO Dr. Long Nguyen left a teaching position at Georgetown University to establish Pragmatics.  Since then, the company’s mission has been to provide top-notch customer satisfaction through hard work, leadership, and technical excellence.

From 1986 through 1995, Pragmatics was an 8(a) company with an outstanding record of service for a diverse customer base, including several cabinet-level departments.  The company then invested heavily in process improvement, attaining SEI CMMI^® Maturity Level 2 assessment in 1999 and Maturity Level 3 in 2001 (and transitioning to CMMI^® Maturity Level 3 in 2003).  These milestones demonstrated that Pragmatics had standard, repeatable procedures for technical project management to ensure high-quality deliverables — on time and within budget. The company achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification in 2004, ISO 9001:2008 in 2009, ISO 20000:2005 in 2010, and ISO/IEC 27001:2005 in 2011.

Employees have had a concrete stake in the future of the company since October 2000, when Dr. Nguyen granted them stock options to reward them for their dedication and provide them with a concrete stake in the company’s future. Dr. Nguyen presents a “State of the Corporation” address each year to the company’s employee-owners to keep them apprised of its corporate financial health and upcoming corporate initiatives.

In its early years, Pragmatics specialized in on-site technical support, including network administration, capacity planning, and applications development. Over time, the company began to diversify its service offerings by building on its core software engineering business practice and adding information assurance and program management services. This has positioned Pragmatics at the high end of the information technology market, where it is now a mid-tier federal government contractor.

The company currently has a portfolio of 19 major information technology contracts with a range of defense and civilian agencies. These include the Defense Information Systems Agency; the Departments of the Army, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, State, and Treasury; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the General Services Administration; and several intelligence agencies. Pragmatics is proud of its ability to support our customers in their important missions, and we look forward to continuing to provide them with the highest level of service.

In 2011, the company had revenues of $168 million and looks forward to continued growth and profitability. Pragmatics is active in industry associations such as AFCEA, PSC, and ACT-IAC and encourages employee participation in these organizations.

Serving our country and our communities has been a part of Pragmatics culture since our inception.  During the 25 years since our establishment, we have made contributions to a variety of organizations and causes. 

On January 5, 2011, Pragmatics announced the acquisition of Innovative Solutions International, Inc., a privately owned engineering and consulting firm headquartered in Vienna, Va. Founded in 1994, ISI specializes in aviation-related satellite technologies. The company's expertise is based on planning, modernizing, and implementing integrated communications, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) systems for federal government, commercial, and international customers. These include the Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, NEC, Honeywell, and Federal Express. ISI employees are located in Atlantic City, N.J.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Rosslyn, Va.; and Washington, D.C.

The acquisition enhances Pragmatics' program management and engineering services capabilities and adds the development of new technologies that take advantage of satellite-based capabilities to deliver next-generation communications, navigation, and surveillance.