Whether a state or local government, or a U.S. government agency, a major problem facing government and industry alike is their aging mainframe systems. A shrinking workforce with experience in older languages such as COBOL, limits the ability of organizations to maintain these legacy systems and prepare for the future. This was apparent as states like New Jersey, facing strain on their systems during the early days battling COVID, called for assistance with their COBOL systems.

Now as federal agencies seek new opportunities to introduce efficiencies via artificial intelligence (AI), these systems provide an easy target for modernization. AI with its ability to tackle complex, repetitive tasks accurately provides one solution to the government mainframe modernization challenge. 

To this end, our Karsun Innovation Center experts devoted their time to producing a complete suite of AI solutions dedicated to tackling the mainframe modernization challenge.

The COBOL Modernization Challenge

With their decades-old interconnected applications and systems, these legacy mainframe systems are complex, expensive to maintain, difficult to change, and vulnerable to attacks. At the same time, the cloud presents the opportunity to build secure, resilient systems that adapt to the changing needs of its users.

Past modernization and migration attempts appeared out of reach for these systems. Stymied by both the cost and time required to transform these systems. These high-value assets handling mission-critical workloads present a high stakes challenge for modernization teams. Often core to the business with large customer bases, they have vast complex functionality that must be broken down into smaller parts before proceeding. 

Karsun applied AI, speeding up this tedious task while ensuring modernization teams had a complete map of the legacy system. Using its ReDuX platform, Karsun limited the impact of poorly documented systems and unanticipated relationships between components. When integrated with the other tools available in the ReDuX platform, AI-assisted teams generated production ready code two times faster than when they used humans alone.

Further given this complexity, some organizations may decide to simply replatform the system. But AI gives us the opportunity to do more than lifting and shifting the application to the cloud. It empowers us to optimize with a product mindset. With this in mind we can build human centered systems that scale and adapt to a changing environment.

The Solution: AI for Mainframe Modernization

Enter ReDuX, Karsun’s AI-powered digital transformation platform. We built our platform using AI to accelerate modernization while reducing risk. Using Amazon Bedrock, a platform that provides access to AI tools via an API, Karsun built a comprehensive digital transformation platform. Karsun’s ReDuX provides AI-enhanced tools for modernization team members from designers to developers in a single platform.

Using generative AI, the platform creates a complete blueprint of a legacy system, reducing risk, and generates behavioral insights. Using this information business analysts, designers, and others do more than rewrite these legacy systems, they reimagine an optimized system designed to match the needs of its users.

This product oriented process is enhanced throughout the modernization effort via the platform’s digital transformation agents. Using agentic AI, the modernization team can chat with their code for deeper understanding and apply reusable templates using automations to rapidly scale their work while reducing risk.

ReDux is already in use by the Karsun teams delivering large-scaled complex modernization solutions to our federal agency customers. We recently shared our experience on the AWS Public Sector Blog.  To learn more about AI Solutions for government modernization visit us here: https://karsun-llc.com/solutions/artificial-intelligence-ai-solutions/

Stuck with a difficult modernization challenge? Check out GoReDuX.AI and get unstuck today!

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Enterprise Modernization Experts! Today, we’re sending our love to the designers, developers, and data engineers who deliver excellence to our government customers and the American people. Driving this performance are the dedicated teams diving into the latest technology solutions. Among those cutting edge solutions are these digital transformation trends we love here at Karsun Solutions.

Designing with a Product Mindset

The Product Mindset empowers teams as they design applications in a way that adapts to the ever-changing digital landscape. As we enter a period requiring adaptability and a forward-thinking approach, the Product Mindset asks teams to consider how the system will be used now and in the future and how they can introduce efficiency now while building to scale. 

This mindset emphasizes moving from a “building” to a “dwelling” perspective. This focuses the process on continuous design as a form of continuous improvement. That includes modeling user experiences, using modern platforms, and implementing layered designs. Learn how Karsun does this with our Digital Transformation Toolkit in this white paper from the Karsun Innovation Center.

https://karsun-llc.com/resource/design-for-every-next-2/

Generative AI for Human-Centered Design

Another key digital transformation component is human-centered design (HCD.) This approach centers design using practices that identify whether the product matches the expectations of its human users. This is achieved by building in continuous feedback and using practices that assist product teams as they identify whether design supports or hinders users.

While human-centered design brings humanity back to software development, it also helps teams ensure the product is used as intended. It uses tools, like those built with machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), to process user data and generate new insights. From these behavioral insights business analysts and others can more quickly generate requirements to ensure functionality carries over to the new systems built by the product team. 

As a final process improvement and efficiency-boosting feature, systems using Generative AI learn from the best practices of the development teams using these tools. When well integrated into platforms like Karsun’s ReDuX AI, the team may use AI to identify the practices that best help achieve their product goals. Based on these insights, the team can add guard rails, further engineer their model, or use agentic AI to generate code, templates, and other resources in line with those recommendations.

Zero Trust Architecture Boosted by Security-Led Practices

When using zero trust architecture (ZTA), systems continuously validate every interaction with the system. Using this approach, teams build systems that limit the ability of people and devices to access it, assuming that by default, they are not to be trusted. Zero trust best practices are essential when building secure architecture designed to adapt to changing needs and evolving threats. The ZTA approach includes well-architected practices. It also includes integrating emerging technologies. 

When teams use security-led practices, such as zero trust architecture and well-architected principles, they can now use AI to enhance their capabilities. That includes using predictive AI to identify risks and generative AI (GenAI) to address those hazards. Teams using our ReDuX AI-powered digital transformation engine use GenAI to proactively recommend best practices, generate guard rails based on established policies, and build templates so they can scale their practices more effectively. 

At Karsun, we design large-scale government IT solutions that enhance the capabilities of our agency partners and drive performance. Our commitment to solid digital transformation and design practices is part of our enduring commitment to technology solutions for every next. Our experts deliver these robust enterprise solutions at agencies across the federal government. At the same time, our innovators explore, prototype, and implement the latest technologies as part of delivering truly transformative solutions. If any of these trends pique your interest, we invite you to connect with our Karsun Innovation Center team and discover how you can begin your technology journey.

With National Data Privacy Week upon us, we reflect on the shifting data environment. From concerns surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) to an evolving threat environment, there is as great a need as ever to be mindful in our approach to protecting data. Our Karsun Innovation Center experts have met this challenge producing new solutions to address future requirements.

Our teams have a long history of incorporating emerging technologies into our data solutions. We build data platforms that produce meaningful insight while protecting sensitive data. Whether that occurs through machine learning (ML) for business intelligence or incorporating well-architected practices into our data-led migration. Moreover, many of these novel solutions incorporate machine learning and AI to further enhance data privacy. 

Utilizing Synthetic Data

Synthetic data enables enterprise data teams to innovate securely. This data is produced through machine learning using models that learn the patterns, structures, and relationships within the real dataset. Next, artificial, or synthetic, data is produced with similar statistical properties to the original data set. Thus, this process masks sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information (PII).

By providing high-quality datasets that mirror real-world data without exposing this data, synthetic data minimizes privacy risks, supports compliance with regulations like HIPAA, and reduces the impact of data breaches. Meanwhile, by allowing safe data sharing and model training, synthetic data accelerates AI and analytics development while ensuring ethical data practices, making it a powerful tool for balancing privacy and innovation. Introducing strong synthetic data practices can be one of the steps organizations can take to prepare their data for an AI-enhanced future. 

Security Automation

We can apply both predictive AI and generative AI (GenAI) and enhance organizations’ security posture by strengthening their security automation. While predictive AI identifies threats, GenAI creates new pathways to addressing security concerns. GenAI is particularly well suited to automating security. When incorporated into an AI-powered platform, it enhances safety culture by applying guardrails, best practice policies, templates, and automations that proactively address security concerns. GenAI further enhances security through its self-healing mechanisms that assess threats and then incorporate those assessments into its policy recommendations.   

GenAI to Meet Regulatory Requirements

GenAI also offers significant potential for meeting regulatory requirements as modernization teams migrate legacy systems. We have written about this extensively on the ReDuX website. ReDuX is our AI-powered platform that accelerates mainframe modernization. One component of that platform is a mapping feature that builds a blueprint of the legacy system. With an enhanced understanding of the legacy system, the team avoids security pitfalls, identifying functional code while removing dangerous dead code and reducing the risks and errors. Moreover, using a platform with built resources allows teams to introduce guardrails like those used to improve security automation.

Bringing It Together

Consider then a data project where each of these methodologies is included as part of a robust data practice. First, synthetic data is produced using machine learning. When combined with AI-assisted development, like that used by ReDuX, the security automation guardrails enforced by the AI-powered platform ensure proper security tools and practices, including those applied to synthetic data, are used properly every time. Then, as AI practices evolve, they are refined further.  

AI/ML helps technology teams navigate complex regulatory landscapes, including compliance with standards like HIPAA, FISMA, and GDPR, to ensure data privacy and system security. By adopting an AI-enhanced approach, agencies can protect privacy, overcome regulatory challenges, and maintain secure and resilient applications to align with their data goals. To learn more about emerging technology from the Innovation Center, visit our Projects Page or take the first step on your data modernization journey and connect with us on our Data Solutions Page. 

At a time when the tech industry is rapidly evolving and competition for top talent is fierce, Karsun Solutions is making significant strides in creating a workplace that not only attracts top professionals but also nurtures their growth and innovation. Its growing accolades for its workplace, growth, and innovation reflect the company’s unwavering commitment to fostering a people-first culture that prioritizes employee satisfaction and development.

Celebrating A Regional, National and Industry-Wide Culture Leader

Karsun picked up new Top Workplaces awards for culture over the course of this year. Rankings on these regional, national, and Culture Excellence lists are determined based on anonymous surveys filled out by employees, conducted by third-party research firm Energage. In total, Karsun received 12 Top Workplace awards in 2024. These include awards for teams in the Washington, D.C., and Oklahoma City regions, for its remote teams, and for cultures that promote Innovation, Purpose and Values, Work-Life Flexibility, Employee Appreciation, and more.

As Karsun now appears on some lists for the third year in a row, these Top Workplaces awards are indicative of genuine sentiments within the organization. Energage, which administers these surveys, focuses on key aspects like alignment, execution, and connection. Karsun’s inclusion in this esteemed list underscores the company’s success in these areas, demonstrating a strong alignment between company goals and employee roles, efficient execution of tasks, and a deep sense of connection among team members.

Technology Industry Leadership

Among its awards for employer culture, Karsun received repeated recognition as a Technology Industry Top Workplace. It was also recognized locally for its leadership within the public sector information technology industry. Ongoing investment in innovation drives this growth. Here too, Karsun received recognition. This year, it was named a finalist for the 2024 Moxie Award, which honors boldness in business across various sectors, including government contracting and technology. Karsun was specifically recognized in the GovCon 300+ Employees category, reflecting its growing impact and scale.

Another significant accolade came from the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), which named Karsun to its 2024 Tech 100 list. This recognition celebrates visionary companies and leaders in the technology industry. Karsun’s inclusion speaks to its ongoing leadership in enterprise modernization and digital transformation.

The Karsun Innovation Center (KIC) plays a pivotal role in maintaining this leadership position. The center spearheads research and development initiatives, such as the ReDuX AI toolkit, which leverages generative AI to streamline the migration and modernization of legacy mainframe systems. By integrating emerging technologies, Karsun ensures that its solutions remain relevant and effective, helping government agencies meet their missions.

A Call for Experts and Innovators

As Karsun Solutions embarks on its fifteenth year of transforming government IT solutions, it continues to seek passionate individuals ready to accelerate their careers. The company’s mission to modernize enterprise solutions for federal agencies opens numerous avenues for professionals in software development, cloud computing, AI, and data analytics.

Are you ready to explore endless possibilities and turn bold ideas into reality? With Karsun’s commitment to innovation, excellence, integrity, and collaboration, there has never been a better time to join this forward-thinking organization. Join a company that empowers you to expand your potential and make a lasting impact. Visit KarsunCareers.com/jobs and take the first step as you Find Your Next, transforming your career with Karsun Solutions.

HERNDON, VIRGINIA – Karsun Solutions has been awarded a Top Workplaces 2024 honor by the Oklahoman. Awardees are among the best employers in the state of Oklahoma. This list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage. The confidential survey uniquely measures the employee experience and its component themes, including employees feeling Respected & Supported, Enabled to Grow, and Empowered to Execute, to name a few. 

“Earning a Top Workplaces award is a badge of honor for companies, especially because it comes authentically from their employees,” said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. “That’s something to be proud of. In today’s market, leaders must ensure they’re allowing employees to have a voice and be heard. That’s paramount. Top Workplaces do this, and it pays dividends.”

This is Karsun’s third year on the list. Headquartered in Virginia, its teams in Oklahoma City, the Washington, D.C. region and around the country support large-scale enterprise modernization efforts at government agencies. In addition to this award, the technology consulting firm previously received Top Workplaces awards as a top employer in the Washington, D.C. region, nationally as part of the USA TODAY Top Workplaces program and across the industry as a Technology Industry Top Workplace. It is currently hiring team members for both remote and hybrid roles in these locations. It is currently hiring at KarsunCareers.com/jobs.

At Karsun, we believe that our core values are the foundation of our success. Each quarter, we take the time to celebrate a special group of individuals who embody these values. Nominated by their peers and leaders, these exceptional team members represent the qualities that drive us to deliver superior solutions to our government customers. Let’s take a closer look at how we honor excellence, innovation, teamwork, commitment, integrity, and fun through our employee recognition program.

Celebrating Karsun’s Core Values

Our core values unite us as a team and guide us in our mission. They inspire us to achieve greatness and celebrate those who go above and beyond. Recognizing the employees who live these values every day is a key part of Karsun culture.

Recognizing Excellence

Excellence is at the heart of everything we do at Karsun. We acknowledge team members who go the extra mile to achieve outstanding results. Recently, we celebrated a team member who worked diligently to add an enhancement for a customer. He demonstrated leadership as he ensured the feature was delivered on time with high quality. By honoring such dedication, we recognize both the effort and the achievement.

Innovation in Action

Innovation is a defining attribute of Karsun. We hold monthly Innovation Town Halls and feature our innovators in our quarterly awards. Two award winners we celebrated contributed to the development of ReDuX, Karsun’s toolkit for AI-accelerated mainframe modernization. Innovators recognized by Karsun through our employee awards highlight the importance of collaboration, vision, and the drive to research and develop extraordinary solutions for our team members serving our customers.

The Power of Teamwork

At Karsun, we are one team working toward a common goal. We celebrate those who foster collaboration and improve processes. We recognized one of our team members this year for his work identifying, assessing, and resolving infrastructure challenges as a member of one of our challenge teams. Challenge teams, like those used by our Karsun SEALS, are hackathon-type multiday sessions used to address emerging needs faced by our customers. By contributing to enhancements during these intense exercises, this team member helped his challenge team and improved processes for teams to come.

We recognized other members for their process enhancements and the myriad ways they lift up their teams. These include an award to one team member for his automation for database management, another for a stand-out business analyst whose skills allowed them to be a point person for their team’s needs, and others who were honored for their ongoing support across multiple areas and teams.

Commitment to the Customer

Our commitment to excellence empowers our team as they extend that commitment to the customer’s mission. Several of our 2024 “Do Extraordinary” awardees were recognized for valuing the needs of our customer, their mission, and goals. They never miss a beat in fast-paced environments as they tirelessly provide updates, engage customers, and address emerging challenges.

Upholding Integrity

Integrity is the bedrock of our culture. We value honesty and fairness in all of our dealings. That includes quality backed by our testing experts. Recent awards recognized the work of our team members’ invaluable dedication to software quality, testing, and the overall integrity of the platform delivered to their customers.

Another member of our corporate team was recognized for her pivotal role in producing data as requested. This timely response ensured accurate information was delivered to the corporate teams she supports. Whether it’s integrity through quality or integrity through accuracy, our integrity MVPs ensure Karsun delivers extraordinary results with excellent quality.

Fun at Work

At Karsun, we understand the importance of enjoying our work. We host events like family picnics and team celebrations to build camaraderie. Many of our award winners are recognized for their ability to foster a positive and fun work environment, improving team morale and making Karsun a great place to work. In addition to our quarterly award winners, we also celebrated the ongoing contributions of our team members at our 15th Anniversary celebrations this year. Held in person and virtually, we shared memories, trivia, food, and camaraderie, as we upheld our “fun” core value while honoring the dedication of our team members to our work.

Reflecting on Our Values

Our core values are more than just principles; they are the driving force behind our success. By celebrating the employees who exemplify these values, we not only honor their contributions but also reinforce the importance of these qualities in our daily work. If you are inspired by these stories and want to be part of a team that values excellence, innovation, teamwork, commitment, integrity, and fun, we welcome you to explore opportunities at KarsunCareers.com/jobs.

Thank you for celebrating with us the incredible contributions of our team members who demonstrate Karsun’s core values. They are the reason we continue to deliver extraordinary solutions to our government customers.

This summer, our Karsun Innovation Center was filled with excitement as our intern cohort tackled AI research and development projects. These talented students addressed real-world challenges and contributed to our cutting-edge AI toolkits and resources. As we conclude 2024, we highlight below the exceptional work done by our interns, with a focus on their projects and the skills they honed while with our modernization experts.

Embracing Real-World Challenges

From their first day in our Herndon, Virginia offices, our interns were exposed to complex problems that demanded innovative solutions. Namrata Hari, a Computational Modeling and Data Analytics student, applied her knowledge to develop a task management application using Java Spring Boot and React. Her project prepared her team for upcoming tasks and equipped them to handle the intricacies of modern software development. Namrata’s primary focus during her AI internship was on testing ReDuX, a toolkit for AI-accelerated modernization. She and her team assessed memory, user interface, and overall user experiences, identifying and addressing defects to improve the AI bot’s functionality.

Pioneering AI Solutions with ReDuX AI

Another inspiring story comes from Samhita Kumar, a rising sophomore at Yale University. Samhita leveraged the ReDuX toolkit for her projects, particularly the AI code generation capabilities included in AppPilot. She combined various tools—Java Spring Boot, PostgreSQL, Podman, and React, among others—to build full-stack projects and refine her understanding of AI applications. Her work involved proposing enhancements to ReDuX and resolving defects within the AppPilot’s frontend design. Samhita’s contributions are an excellent example of AI internships at the Karsun Innovation Center pushing the boundaries of modern software development.

Enhancing User Experience through Full-Stack Development

Manojdeep Dakavaram‘s internship was a blend of full-stack development and problem-solving. A master’s student in computer science, he worked on multiple projects, including a centralized task management system and automating user access to Karsun’s O’Reilly virtual training library. His efforts improved user experiences by addressing critical bug fixes and developing new features in the React front end of AppPilot. Manojdeep’s work showcased the powerful impact of meticulous development and technology integration.

Data Management and Visualization Innovations

Pravalika Gollapudi, a Master’s student at Arizona State University, concentrated on data management and dashboards. She developed a CRUD application and a React dashboard, which streamlined data interactions and improved presentation reliability through rigorous testing. Pravalika’s role also involved conducting data quality analysis, ensuring data integrity and reliability. Her projects underscored the pivotal role data plays in modern AI and software systems.

Automation and Streamlined Workflows

The importance of automation and workflow optimization was highlighted by Visvajit Murali’s contributions. A student from the University of Virginia, Visvajit utilized technologies like PostgreSQL, Spring Boot, and Docker to automate tedious tasks, enhancing user experiences and system efficiency. His work illustrated how automating repetitive tasks can drive productivity and innovation.

Advancing with Generative AI

Generative AI continues to be a game-changer in the tech industry, as evidenced by the work of our interns and our ReDuX mainframe modernization team. The Karsun Innovation Center challenged these students to explore and propose enhancements to our AI toolkits. This focus on generative AI was epitomized by their efforts in developing and refining AI-driven code generation tools, which promise to accelerate and streamline modernization processes effectively.

Lessons and Growth from Internship Experiences

The professional growth of our interns was significantly influenced by their experiences at the Karsun Innovation Center. Daily interactions with seasoned experts, regular “Show Don’t Tell” meetings, and hands-on projects provided them with invaluable industry insights. Interns like Namrata and Manojdeep highlighted the benefits of a collaborative and supportive environment, while others, such as Pravalika and Visvajit, emphasized the importance of continuous learning and adaptability.

This summer, our interns at the Karsun Innovation Center not only contributed to the development of AI solutions but also grew as professionals poised to lead the next wave of innovation. Their stories serve as testaments to the power of immersive learning and the impact of forward-thinking, supportive mentorship. As we look ahead, we are excited to see how these budding experts will shape the world of AI and technology. Check out our Innovation Center Projects to learn more about ReDuX and other emerging technology projects from our research and development team.

HERNDON, VA – Karsun Solutions announced it was named to the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s (NVTC) annual Tech 100 list. This award is the enterprise modernization firm’s sixth appearance on the list. This honor celebrates the region’s visionary companies, leading executives, and emerging innovators. 

The NVTC named award winners across three categories: Tech Company, Tech Executive and NextGen Leader. Karsun Solutions was recognized among the honorees in the Tech Company category. The enterprise modernization and digital transformation company delivers modern software development, cloud and data solutions to government agencies. It is an industry leader previously recognized as one of the largest government technology employers in the Washington, D.C., region. Its ongoing growth previously earned the company recognition on the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies.

Emerging technology solutions, prototypes and toolkits from the Karsun Innovation Center drive this growth. This year, the center launched its ReDuX AI toolkit. As a result of its investment in artificial intelligence (AI) research and development, Karsun’s ReDuX AI toolkit uses generative AI resources to accelerate the migration and modernization of legacy mainframe systems.

With new and growing contracts in its acquisitions, aviation and grants management portfolios, Karsun continues ongoing hiring for modernization experts. This hiring includes remote roles nationwide and to positions located near its Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Washington, D.C. teams, for the latest openings, visit KarsunCareers.com/jobs. 

Karsun Solutions DHS Portfolio Vice President Jeffrey Kramer was named a DHS Executive of the Year Pinnacle Awards Finalist. The Pinnacle Awards are presented annually by Washington Exec. Now in its seventh year, the award recognizes leaders driving innovation and technology adoption in support of government agencies and their mission. 

Karsun Solutions transforms government agencies through modern software development, cloud, data, and artificial intelligence solutions. Jeffrey Kramer leads delivery and growth efforts for Karsun’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) portfolio. He brings over 30 years of experience in delivering solutions across the federal government with a specific focus on serving in key roles on some of the largest mission critical system modernization efforts in the federal civilian space. His experience spans beyond DHS to also include Department of Justice, State, Transportation, Commerce and Treasury. He is a Fellow in the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council Partners Program. 

Karsun’s DHS Portfolio includes its Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Grants Management Modernization (GMM) program. Under that program it is modernizing the agency’s grants system, bringing 40+ grants programs into the cloud-based FEMA Grants Outcomes (FEMA GO) platform. The modernized platform reached full operational capability this year.