From its home in Virginia, Open Systems Technologies (OST) Corporation has been providing its signature brand of customized, top-of-the-line security solutions to large enterprises since opening its doors back in 1996. Guided by a combination of experience and expertise, the company’s forte lies in flawless execution and strong relationships across its diverse clientele. Recognized in this feature as the Best Enterprise Cloud & Cybersecurity Solutions Provider 2025 – Southeast USA, we caught up with Thomas ‘Tom’ Truitt, the visionary mind behind OST, for more.
When Tom Truitt founded Open Systems Technologies Corporation in July 1996, he did so to build a robust ecosystem where ideas could be housed and nurtured, before being brought to the market in order to fill gaps across various verticals. Now, almost 30 years into its journey, OST can look back on a string of evolutions, with its impact being felt across areas such as finance, government, logistics, and even national security. This is just the start, with recent advancements seen across artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Despite its remarkable progress over the last three decades, one thing that has remained unchanged for OST is its people-first mentality, which applies to staff and clients alike. “We have a servant leadership management style”, Tom told us. “Our management team work for our employees and vice versa – it is and must be a reciprocal relationship, where both sides are taken care of.” This leads to decisions being made in the best interests of staff and clients alike, with people put over money and a reputation built on trust.
The sense of trust that OST garners from its clients goes hand in hand with the knack for innovation that is displayed across its services, something which starts at the top with the servant leader model mentioned above. For Tom, this model is so effective as it cares for the whole person – their mind, body, soul, and spirit. Such a rigorous focus sees that staff feel supported, and this, in turn, empowers them to work at the very top of their game. It also provides the foundation for some truly game-changing solutions.
One of the most impressive elements of OST’s diverse portfolio is its work with identify credential and access management (ICAM) solutions, which it has previously provided to the federal marketplace within the United States Department of Defense (DoD). Rolling out highly specialist software solutions for more than five million users within this network, the company was able to achieve this by integrating the best COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) products available, ensuring strict security requirements were met.
Exploring this further, Tom commented: “Our staff have the niche skills to bring about enterprise-level security solutions that ensure government stakeholders can have the roles and privileges to perform tasks to support the US Government. We extend the functionality of these COTS products to yield a better functioning solution that meets the business needs of the government. The net effect of our work ensures the Federal Government has the governance and highest level of security for each managed identity.”
OST has been supporting national security solutions in this way from the beginning of its life, with its provisions using the most stringent security provisions available to ensure that the data of the American people is safe – whether it is at rest or in transit. These solutions are made up of data centres and cloud infrastructures alike (such as Azure, AWS, Google, and Oracle), where Tom and the team deploy leading digital analytics and next-gen artificial intelligence. This helps to minimise the risk of a security breach.
“Cybersecurity is at the heart of everything we do. We employ the hardened NIST RMF 800 Pub Series security framework to ensure our internal processes and customer processes meet the stringent requirements of our customers.”
With this distinction in tow, OST is today the proud partner for numerous organisations, ranging from these government entities through to commercial organisations and even Fortune 100/500 clients. As mentioned in the beginning, this client base is always expanding, and the customer-first ethos that is today such a big part of the company’s identity provides it the leverage to grow in new areas and benefit even more people.
OST’s ability to grow and scale effectively is – like with almost every company – down to its team, a group mentioned numerous times thus far but without pinpointing exactly what sets them apart. In a word, it is dedication. “Finding top talent and emerging talent who will grow with the company is difficult”, Tom explained, with the short-term reward culture that exists today making finding people who really want to put the effort in an arduous task. Picking out the best of the best has perhaps been Tom’s greatest challenge.
Diving deeper into this, Tom shared: “Although we support diversity, we do it for the right reasons – a day’s pay for a day’s work. We have had to adopt a model of ‘hire fast, fire fast’ to determine who is going to work within the OST ecosystem. Some people want to be paid for their lifestyle choices, but we are searching for people who want to be paid for results. Seeing people come and go is something you must get used to, but it never gets easy, as we spend a lot of time and energy to teach them our business operations.”
Providing us with a sneak preview of this, Tom described that OST’s focus is on teaching agile business practices to support it in getting its solutions out the door at the most cost-effective price possible. Therefore, the company operates according to a kind of rhythm, with all deliverables and the tasks behind them being managed via a timetable that all staff know. The result is akin to a symphony, with all of the parts and pieces moving together to create a melody for the company’s clients – a sound they never tire of.
As OST continues to make this music, Tom shifts gears to talk about the next stage of the company’s evolution, with it currently being involved in the buildout of a new data centre for cloud providers and niche markets. In the longer term, the focus is on solutions in quantum computing, specifically nurturing computing breakthroughs to redefine both the computing platform and the general cloud marketplace. OST will look for the partners to help it realize these solutions across both the commercial and national security markets.
“Through our market research and effectiveness in partnering with external organisations, we can break into new, emerging technology areas. This is due to the trust, genuineness, and talent we bring to table at every turn.”
Distinguished as a result of its solutions, partners, and unwavering client focus, the successful track record that Open Systems Technologies Corporation has across its portfolio demonstrates almost 30 years of consistent excellence in this environment. Such dedication has led to the company being recognised as the Best Enterprise Cloud & Cybersecurity Solutions Provider 2025 – Southeast USA in this feature. For more information on its services, team, or history, simply visit the web address listed below.
Finally, in closing, Tom left us with some advice to share with budding entrepreneurs aiming to follow in his footsteps within the tech industry: “Focus on what you can give and the value you can add. The biggest win is a satisfied customer, and, to win consistently, you have to become the biggest giver, as there are too many takers in the marketplace. Become the biggest giver and you will have more success than you could ever imagine.”
Web Address: https://www.ostcorpweb.net/
