Agile Government and the Tools to Enable IT Successfully
Introduction
Reviewing FBO.gov and the GSA Ebuy portal, there are currently close to 300 open opportunities across the Federal government for the implementation, development, or management of agile processes and procedures. Tools used to enable and reinforce these processes are also abundant on the marketplace, but how can you select them in order to correctly meet government security standards? The documentation requirements often found within these government needs, including FedRAMP compliance, can be prohibitive without context. This blog will discuss tools currently available on the marketplace that meet FedRAMP compliance, while enabling agile processes across your organization, and can be integrated simultaneously to create even more sustainable managerial solutions.
Enabling Agile with Multiple Tools
It’s no surprise there are a range of toolsets on the marketplace that enable agile processes. However, many of these exist in a non-compliant cloud state and are rendered inaccessible for government users. Problems arise either through authentication, authorization of use, permissions, or from a general security and vulnerability standard. Three tools we are going to discuss today which can be hosted in FedRAMP compliant environments include:
- Atlassian Jira Software
- Atlassian Confluence
- GitLab
All three have some overlap in surface capabilities, but when combined they provide a deep functionality for enabling agile processes.
Jira Software + Confluence
The Atlassian Tool Suite (Jira Software and Confluence) has been successfully used for over a decade across multiple Federal organizations. The products have been deployed across FedRAMP Low – High environments and enable multiple work environments to run effectively with diverse solutions. Using Jira Software, project managers and SCRUM masters are enabled to properly manage tasks and user stories, estimate and create sprint burndown charts, and track and manage the development of solutions across simple and complex workflows.
Confluence provides the wiki collaboration and documentation feature, often replacing SharePoint in agencies as the de-facto documentation tool. In unison Jira Software and Confluence enable traceability across written documentation networks and requirements along with deployment capabilities.
GitLab
GitLab is the end all, be all for application development. From inception to operation, usability is intuitive, and maintenance is easy to keep up to date. It provides users the capability to host a code repository that allows team leaders to actively track and manage development stories, tasks, and implementation all while utilizing the underlying DVCS. GitLab also enables collaboration through the use of wikis, and can be hosted across different low, medium, and high security environments simultaneously.
Jira + Confluence + GitLab
While these services can provide incredible capabilities on their own, covering multiple functionalities under the DevSecOps tool chain, the true power of their scope is realized when they are combined. When this set of tools is applied together users are empowered to accomplish more through utilizing the main strengths of each tool, specifically:
- Jira Software: Project Management and tracking
- Confluence: Wiki documentation
- GitLab: Code repository, CI/CD, and deployment capabilities
Jira, Confluence, and GitLab can be synchronized together easily using multiple add-ons and apps from the marketplace. Many are free, while others carry a licensing cost to attach them. Enabling GitLab and Jira provides you with a full view of Tasks, Bugs, and User Story development in the Jira work environment. While documentation is developed in Confluence, including Branches / Commits / Merge Request information, and notes in GitLab.
These tools when combined, create a functional strength in their unison. It is the combination that allows each tool to work more effectively for a wide range of common organizational needs. And most importantly, these tools can be deployed across multiple Federal and Commercial organizations in a variety of network conditions and implemented in preapproved FedRAMP environments. Implementing and enforcing Agile processes is essential in your Federal Agency. Jira, Confluence, and GitLab combined provide not only these capabilities in a secure environment, but also possess all the functionality required to keep your agency on the cutting edge of available technology.
Conclusion
How are you enabling Agile in your organization? Feel free to reach out, comment, or drop us a line and let us know! www.ascendintegrated.com