Secure software development, while important for any organization, is especially critical within the public sector, where highly sensitive information is processed. For government IT teams, complying with complex regulations such as FedRAMP (a standard specifically developed to protect government data) is a required aspect of software development. Today, government agencies must balance the pressure to innovate and deliver quick and reliable digital experiences while also navigating a complicated regulatory environment. More government IT teams are adopting DevSecOps to ensure they meet necessary security measures as part of their technological advancement.
DevSecOps is the latest evolution of DevOps principles, which architects security as a shared responsibility throughout the software development lifecycle, instead of incorporating it as a latter step or secondary overlay. This framework ensures integrated security early on (and throughout the dev process), eliminating the bottleneck DevOps creates, which can slow threat discoveries and delay software releases due to security risks. By adopting DevSecOps, organizations can increase their software output while making it more reliable and secure.
However, incorporating new technology tools and dissolving former practices to support DevSecOps can be a challenging feat for government IT teams, who often have to transition from legacy systems and waterfall approaches. Government IT teams considering DevSecOps can learn from agencies that are currently paving the way. And additional support from a DevSecOps technology solutions partner can provide agencies with expert knowledge for successful implementation and insight to leverage tools that are custom to their unique objectives.
The Department of Defense (DOD) is a leader within the public sector adopting DevSecOps. The DOD has saved years of planned program time and cut massive costs through initiatives: Platform One (the Air Force’s DevSecOps platform) and Black Pearl (the Navy’s DevSecOps task force).
Platform One features a collection of approved infrastructure code playbooks, Kubernetes distributions and hardened containers that developers working for the Air Force can apply toward new software projects. These products and services can also be reused across programs within the department so developers don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time they start a new project.
Following The Air Force’s lead, The Navy officially launched its own DevSecOps task force, Black Pearl, this winter to address the Navy’s recurring struggle with cybersecurity. Like Platform One, Black Pearl features a portfolio of products and software practices to supply Navy coders with the ability to make secure products. Black Pearl even houses some of the same products featured in Platform One. Similarly, the goal of Black Pearl is to eliminate redundancies as the Navy adopts new software practices.
Contegix recently launched its DevSecOps platform: TrustStack. TrustStack is a DevSecOps collaboration platform that helps government organizations manage their technology needs. It is designed from the ground up with a focus on security, transparency, ease of adoption, and scalable governance. TrustStack’s leadership played has played a key role in standing up many of the world largest and most secure CI/CD and DevSecOps platforms; they have leveraged that expertise and lessons-learned to optimize TrustStacks architecture and features.
TrustStack offers an extensive set of tools for FedRAMP environments, and can be expanded to provide solutions for tools that teams might already have in use. It is a strong alternative to Platform One and DI2E. With TrustStack, teams can stand up instances faster, simply the management of their DevOps toolkits, and track/forecast user adoption. TrustStack also offers federal-focused billing and invoice management.
By implementing DevSecOps initiatives like these that partner with technology providers like Atlassian, the public sector can expand its output of fast, reliable and secure software, bringing better services to the public and more innovation to the public sector.
Even more DevSecOps expertise is available to government IT leaders looking to adopt DevSecOps practices through solutions partners like Contegix. Experts at Contegix specialize in assisting government IT teams develop and optimize DevSecOps frameworks through site optimization, migration services, performance tuning and site launch enablement.
Whether your team is just initiating adoption or perfecting DevSecOps, as an Atlassian Platinum Solutions Provider, Contegix can ensure your integration is seamless and crafted to address your agencies specific objectives through customizations. Contegix is also uniquely positioned to provide assistance within the public sector with necessary compliance and security certifications such as FedRAMP, HIPAA and more — so your team can focus on delivering innovative software releases.
For more information about how Contegix can help your agency adopt DevSecOps, visit our website.