Using the Right Methodologies for Delivery Excellence

Federal agencies increasingly need industry partners who bring expertise in iterative, responsive Agile development approaches. They need support to create business applications using low-code platforms like ServiceNow and Salesforce in secure, cloud-hosted environments like Azure and AWS.

Yet they still need contractors to have deep experience and expertise in managing and maintaining their legacy enterprise applications – including mainframe-based systems and databases, as well as large, legacy code bases.

Citizant’s application development approach draws from decades of experience with Waterfall, Rapid Application Development, Iterative, Spiral, and Agile methodologies. Our successful enterprise application engagements include:

  • Spearheading one of the first Federal programs to use an Agile approach on a cloud-based CRM implementation at the General Services Administration (GSA)
  • Using Agile methods to build mission-critical systems for multiple agencies, including the IRS’s Branded Prescription Drug (BPD) fee collection system, which is responsible for generating fees in excess of $14B a year to fund U.S. healthcare programs.
  • Supporting Agile software development and maintenance, regression testing for software updates, CI/CD pipeline software deployment, cloud migration, and business case analysis for the US Air Force Base Maintenance (BMx) family of systems.

We have successfully applied Agile practices on small and large application development and operation and maintenance projects. We use Agile development methods to deliver value quickly, providing increased transparency, while fulfilling the documentation requirements of traditional System Development Life Cycles (SDLC). We invested in SAFe certifications for our developers, and Certified Scrum Master and Certified Scrum Product Owner training for Agile project leaders.

Agile Development Leadership

Citizant has emerged as a recognized leader in collaborating with Government agencies to mature their Agile development capabilities. Citizant led the adoption of Agile application development methods, software reuse, automated testing, and support for technical integration efforts within the IRS.

As an early adopter of Agile practices, we leveraged our familiarity with the IRS’s system development life cycle and infrastructure — along with strong relationships with internal delivery partners — to create new processes that allowed the agency to respond more quickly to requests for Agile development and testing environments.

Citizant’s Agile development approach delivers many benefits including:

  • On Time, On Budget. Completing projects on time and on budget, while exceeding the organization’s needs.
  • Practical Planning and Design. Saving costs during the requirements analysis and design phase by focusing on near-term functionality, allowing us to avoid wasting efforts to plan for future features that might change or be omitted.
  • Early Risk Mitigation. Identifying project risks and deficiencies early when they could be remedied with little cost or schedule impact, rather than later in development when remediation is more costly.
  • Adopting Emerging Technologies. Staying ahead of technology by identifying and adopting new technologies on a continuous basis, rather than waiting on completion of a multi-year delivery cycle during which technologies may become obsolete.
  • Increased Collaboration. Bridging gaps between siloed functions reduces rework and allows for optimal use or resources.