by Mike Brown | Apr 13, 2018

NAR Atlassian and Drupal Configuration

Background:

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is the largest trade association in the United States. The site, https://www.realtor.org has been used for years to showcase articles and information for Realtors, Brokers, and the public.

The Challenge:

The current site, built on the Drupal 7 platform is accessed by thousands of users each month. In order to maintain traffic and generate user interest, NAR recognized the need to upgrade the functionalities within their website and underlying Atlassian Tool Suite. These upgrades included general look and feel along with added functionality.

The Solution:

Ascend Integrated worked with NAR to implement new project processes and procedures in place, to effectively manage the development and implementation of updates to NAR. Working in Drupal 7, Ascend Integrated researched solutions, modules, and configurations to be used in order to effectively deliver the required functionality. Using Atlassian JIRA, JIRA Agile, and Confluence, Ascend Integrated effectively tracked and managed the development and testing efforts for the site. Ascend Integrated also worked with NAR to implement an upgrade of the current JIRA system, upgrading the user license and administering the Atlassian tool suite.

Outcome:

Processes, procedures, and Drupal best practices introduced by Ascend Integrated working with NAR are still implemented today, enabling productivity across web development projects.

Defense Systems Information Analysis Center (DSIAC)

by Mike Brown | Apr 13, 2018

Defense Systems Information Analysis Center (DSIAC)

Background:

The Defense Systems Information Analysis Center (DSIAC) was established in January 2014 to leverage expertise and knowledge from Government agencies, research laboratories, industry, and academia to solve the toughest scientific and technical problems of the Defense Systems community. DSIAC is currently hosted at https://www.dsiac.org/ and runs on a Drupal 7 CMS on a locally hosted environment.

The Challenge:

Ascend Integrated was approached by the maintainers of DSIAC to migrate the DSIAC website from Drupal 7 to WordPress and move the application into a FedRAMP compliant data center. This implementation included migrating existing functionality, build capabilities, and configurations. Ascend Integrated, along with the maintainers were required to follow strict procedures associated with the FedRAMP compliant data center commissioned by the Department of Defense (DoD).

The Solution:

Working with the DSIAC maintainers, Data Center specialists, and the DoD, Ascend Integrated provided a system architecture overview / roadmap forward for performing the migration. Ascend Integrated worked to select relevant WordPress plugins, and translated code, styles, themes, and functionality to WordPress from Drupal 7. Ascend Integrated worked closely with the FedRAMP Data Center staff and DoD to ensure REST APIs, configurations, and security protocols / procedures were put into place and were effective. Extensive testing was performed to ensure compliance with FedRAMP policies and security was implemented.

Outcome:

Ascend Integrated, working with the project team and multiple stakeholders, was successful in migrating the application to the Cloud with plugins and security protocols put into place. Ascend continues to maintain the application along with DoD and the FedRAMP Data Center staff.