ALEXANDRIA, VA – The General Services Administration (GSA) awarded the Database and Middleware Support Services (DMS) contract to KHS Technologies, an SBA approved 8(a) Mentor-Protege Joint Venture between Karsun Solutions (Mentor) and Mindcubed (Protege). The contract has a value of $13.9 million over three years. Under the contract, the joint venture will provide modernization, enhancement, maintenance and administration services, and program management for GSA’s current and future database and middleware environment.
“We’re excited to continue our long-standing partnership with GSA, delivering innovative solutions for their Database and Middleware environment modernization,” said Jay Kondapalli, Vice President of Karsun’s GSA Portfolio.
KHS Technologies delivers big data/analytics, agile systems engineering and cloud solutions to government agencies. In addition to its listing under the U.S. General Services Administration’s Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), KHS Technologies was also awarded a spot on GSA’s Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services III (STARS III). As an 8(a) STARS III contract holder, KHS can provide agencies access to its emerging technology capabilities.
About Karsun Solutions (Mentor)
Karsun Solutions modernizes enterprise systems, enabling agencies to make the next technological advancement their next opportunity to elevate mission capability. IT solutions from Karsun are tailored to meet agencies’ unique needs and optimize operations. These solutions adapt and stay relevant with current trends while using secure, digital architecture built to last. It is a proven modernization partner whose expertise elevates agency capabilities and ensures every next opportunity is within reach.
Company Contact: marketing@karsun-llc.com
About Mindcubed (Protege)
Mindcubed is an SBA 8(a) certified information technology software and services company located in the DC metro area. It delivers creative quality solutions quickly and cost effectively in the areas of Big Data Analytics, Mobile Apps Development, Agile Systems Engineering, and Cybersecurity.
Its GRID™ software offering is a cloud and mobile enabled, enterprise-scale Big Data platform. GRID provides a unique combination of agile analytics, business compliance, and statistical simulation capabilities, enabling organizations to understand trends, predict outcomes and make data-driven decisions.
Mindcubed is appraised at CMMI Level 3 and its Quality Management System (QMS) MindPROVE is ISO 9001:2015 certified. Learn more at http://mindcubed.com/.
A Master of Science in Business Analytics student, Soumya Nambi Ganesh tested her data science skills working with the Agile Decision Dashboard team as part of her Karsun Innovation Center internship. In taking on this project, which reports key metrics to executive and management-level decision-makers, she tackled everything from requirements gathering to data pipelines to transforming the data and constructing visualizations. Discover how Soumya worked with the Innovation Center Research and Development (RnD) team to build this dashboard and find her next.
First please tell us about yourself. Where are you going to school? What are you studying? What do you like to do in your free time?
Hi, I’m Soumya Nambi Ganesh. I’m pursuing a Master of Science degree in Business Analytics at the University of Southern California in LA. In my free time, I enjoy reading, writing, playing badminton and watching all genres of movies.
Could you share a little bit about the project you worked on as part of this internship? What challenge does it solve? What technologies and tools are you using?
As part of my internship at Karsun, I worked on building an Agile Decision Dashboard. This dashboard includes interactive visualizations built on company – data in terms of Objectives, Key Results, Costs, Management, Quality and Schedule. I was given the opportunity to be a part of the project right from the beginning – where I met with the executives of the company for personal interviews on their requirements for the dashboard. I worked on the entire data pipeline, which involved identifying various data sources, building scripts to extract data and transforming the data into desirable formats. I then worked on computing new metrics and eventually constructing visualizations that are to be used for intuitive decision-making by the executives.
What is your favorite part about working with the Karsun Innovation Center? Is there a weekly meeting or ritual you enjoy? The opportunity to learn more or get a new certification?
My favorite part of working at KIC is the opportunity to meet with colleagues with different skills and expertise, in a close-net team and learn of their various perspectives. I love a good challenge and working with the KIC team offered me new tasks, with changing requirements in a sort of RnD environment. This pushed me to get out of my comfort zone, quickly learn new tools and methods and implement the same.
I also was able to enhance my data science skills by undertaking a course on Udemy, through Karsun, which was a bonus to my learning here!
What is your biggest takeaway from your experience as an intern at Karsun?
My main takeaway would be bridging the gap requirements and data. This involves understanding executive-level and management-level requirements and then finding a way to clean messy data, transform them into meaningful metrics and display them as visualizations to answer specific business questions. I was also able to improve on this process through the continuous feedback I received from various members of the team, for which I am grateful.
Soumya completed her internship as part of the Karsun Innovation Center. Learn Karsun accelerate Data Solutions adoption. Connect with Soumya on LinkedIn to learn more about her experience.
HERNDON, VA- Karsun Solutions announced it was awarded, as part of a team led by Softrams, work under the General Services Administration (GSA) Business Intelligence (BI) FUSION Support Services Task Order. The contract supports the GSA Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Office of Customer and Stakeholder Engagement (CASE) with enabling the internal GSA Business Development Community to eliminate redundancies, increase efficiency, and deliver better value.
Softrams, the prime contract holder, offers innovative technology implementations and builds customer-centric services that are simple, intuitive and usable for a wide variety of industries that range from Healthcare, Defense, Aerospace, Agriculture and many more. Its certified SAFe practitioners and trainers are globally recognized for their ability to support the successful transformation of organizations into Lean-Agile enterprises.
“We are excited to continue our support to the FAS alongside the Softrams team,” said Karsun Solutions President, Terry Miller.
The five-year GSA BI FUSION contract was awarded to the Softrams team under the CIO Modernization and Enterprise Transformation (COMET) BPA. The COMET BPA modernizes mission critical applications at GSA. It is the IT services vehicle for the FAS. COMET replaced the CIO Application, Maintenance, Enhancements and Operations (CAMEO) contract which GSA awarded in 2014. Karsun Solutions previously won contracts under COMET to support modernization of the GSA Advanced Fleet Platform and GSA Enhanced Checkout (GECO). Download the complete Karsun COMET Fact Sheet at karsun-llc.com/comet-fact-sheet.
Karsun supports GSA through two other contracts. This includes engagements from its Data and Analytics Practice. The GSA awarded it a spot on the Enterprise Data Information Management (EDIM) BPA where it supports the Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP) under a $35 million call order. Through this order, it is tasked with the modernization of the OGP Visualization Platform which supports ITdashboard.org, digitaldashboard.gov, and the Office of Information, Integrity, and Access. It also currently executes the Database and Middleware Systems Task Order awarded by GSA in 2018. That task order is a five-year contract with a ceiling of $35 million.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions is a fast-growing, innovative enterprise modernization firm. Recently awarded Best Company Culture by Comparably.com, its teams deliver modern software development, cloud, and data solutions to customers at government agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration and General Services Administration. Leveraging GoLean, Karsun teams drive digital transformation and help its government customers Do Extraordinary. Learn more at Karsun-LLC.com.
Media Contact: marketing@karsun-llc.com
In a recent FedScoop interview, Data Practice Director Shaunak Ashtaputre discussed accelerating innovation through data-led migration. Leveraging AWS, his team found they were no longer required to prioritize the quickest migration time. Instead, using a data-led approach, they focused on maximizing data value while minimizing the time to transform that data.
In the interview, he recalls a recent data platform modernization project. Addressing mismatched tooling and services, Karsun added capabilities as part of the data-led migration process. This included enhancing the centralized data lake, consolidating data through newly created pipelines and establishing quality baselines. Using automated data recipes, the new platform reduced the time to prepare data. This reduced the lead time from weeks to hours. While improving data latency, the team also transformed the process from a batch approach to a fully integrated analytics platform with transparent lineage, models and recipes. The solution was end to end, from ingest to dashboard.
Optimizing with Cloud Runways
Key to the team’s success was Cloud Runways, Karsun’s answer to complex data-led migration modernization projects. These toolkits accelerate cloud migration through fit-to-purpose transformation playbooks. These enable incremental migrations which adapt to unique customer requirements and constraints.
Karsun begins by building a holistic view by determining the agency’s intended approach to the cloud and data ecosystem. Using a Data-Led Migration Runway, the team assesses the existing integration landscape and identifies future needs. This includes understanding the needs of the analytics users of that data. Next, the team uses Karsun’s proprietary multi-criteria decision support framework to perform a robust assessment of available solution providers. These include vital characteristics such as interoperability, flexibility, SLAs and security to optimize provider selection.
As an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner with a Migration Competency, its customers may also utilize Karsun’s access to AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) resources. This program packages best practices, tools, expertise, financial incentives, and the AWS Partner Network (APN) to simplify cloud adoption. Supporting customers investigating migration solutions, these financial incentives subsidize the three key steps in the migration process (Assess, Mobilize, and Migrate and Modernize). When applicable, Karsun implements these financial incentives as part of its Cloud Runways toolkit.
For those new to complex data migration projects, the Karsun Innovation Center also offers Immersion Days. In these workshops, Karsun cloud experts introduce customers and colleagues to enhance their practice. Additional innovation initiatives are driven through employee-centric Solution, DevSecOps, Lean, Development and Data practice areas. To get started, visit Karsun’s AWS Data-Led Migration Solution.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions is a fast-growing, innovative enterprise modernization firm. Recently awarded Best Company Culture by Comparably.com, its teams deliver modern software development, cloud, and data solutions to customers at government agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration and General Services Administration. Leveraging GoLean, Karsun teams drive digital transformation and help its government customers Do Extraordinary. Learn more at Karsun-LLC.com.
Promote Transparency is one of the three Ethical Governance Principles in the Federal Data Strategy. This 10-year vision statement drives agencies across the government to build better tools to bring valuable insights to decision makers and citizens. Nowhere is this clearer than in government dashboards and data visualizations which must clearly communicate complex information in a meaningful manner for their users.
Modernizing Legacy Dashboards
Leveraging its business intelligence and visualization expertise, Karsun recently engaged in such a dashboard modernization project with one of its government customers. This customer was charged with delivering a dashboard that provides insights to both internal stakeholders and key decision-makers outside the organization. The goal was to allow users to access the dashboard for data-driven decision-making while enhancing transparency and adhering to the Conscious Design principles outlined in the Federal Data Strategy.
An on-premise legacy application added complexity to the modernization project. Moreover, the previous dashboard was built by different vendors with a mix of features and functionality. As a result, Karsun’s customer needed to provide a new, user-friendly dashboard. It also strove to limit human error with the data submission and ingestion process while seeing a decrease in operations and maintenance costs. Using a modularized approach, the customer wanted one, coherent dashboard. The customer envisioned a streamlined data submission process while reducing the time required for making new data sets available and improving speed-to-insight.
Combining Design and Data Expertise
The Karsun Data Practice uses DataOps to bring together data platform and engineering with business intelligence and visualization expertise. In doing so, it worked with its customer to deliver a solution that not only used DataOps principles but also incorporated best practices for usability, accessibility, and visualization within the dashboard.
Working with the on-premise application and within the requirements set by another project partner, Karsun built the data objects. Backend microservices utilizing RESTful API fetched data from an API service call and prepared the visualization using the Python Plotly visualization library. Those visualizations are then delivered as a JSON object.
An additional component to dashboard modernization is user experience. The President’s Executive Order on Customer Experience compels the government to design and deliver services “with a focus on the actual experience of the people whom it is meant to serve.” As practitioners, this order draws the spotlight to a range of design methodologies intended to enhance accessibility, transparency, and equity for all users.
This project used human centered design (HCD), putting user needs, desires, and abilities at the center of the process. This also uses iterative feedback from each step to inform the analysis. Seeking clarity at each step, it transitions the dashboard away from a mixed experience that’s difficult for users to navigate and hard for the customer to maintain.
It uses a three step process. The first step is Demand Side Analysis. This engages users at the earliest opportunity through interviews and surveys. The team also conducts a Prior Usage Analysis. Next, they design a User Centered Service Delivery Model. This incorporates Design Thinking, Service Design, and Detailed Design. Finally, they again Engage Product Users by introducing Mock-Ups, Prototypes, and Wireframes. After iterating through these three steps, the team identified and built an application layer on a PHP/Drupal framework allowing for easy content manipulation without requiring technical knowledge.
User Friendly, Data Driven Insights at Lower Cost
This modernization project sunsetted legacy infrastructure and reduced high-cost maintenance. The new dashboard application further streamlined data collection, introduced omnichannel distribution of IT data, and improved the overall user experience. Moreover, by improving the process through human centered design, the customer improved the user’s ability to make evidence based decisions.
This project not only enhanced user experience it also supported requests for better data-driven decision making in government. While modernization projects frequently address high maintenance costs, human centered design adds an additional element. Improved user experience not only saves money, it enhances both accessibility and transparency, delivering better government to all.
This month we’re sharing success stories from our Data Practice. Follow us on LinkedIn for more insights. Check out our Data Solutions section for more from our Enterprise Modernization Experts.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions modernizes enterprise systems enabling agencies to make the next technological advancement their next opportunity to elevate mission capability. IT solutions from Karsun are tailored to meet agencies’ unique needs and optimize operations. These solutions adapt and stay relevant to current trends while using secure, digital architecture built to last. It is a proven modernization partner whose expertise elevates agency capabilities and ensures every next opportunity is within reach.
Corporate Contact: marketing@karsun-llc.com
HERNDON, Va. – Karsun Solutions, LLC received a call order from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP). An enterprise modernization firm serving the public sector, Karsun Solutions delivers a portfolio of modern software development, cloud solutions and data solutions to federal agencies. It plans to deliver work in conjunction with its Data Practice, formed in 2018 by its in-house Innovation Center. This practice provides industry leading expertise in modern data architecture and platforms, data ops, model ops, data security and application data modernization services.
“We are thrilled to start work on this call order,” said Karsun Solutions CEO Sundar Vaidyanathan. “This is an exciting opportunity to introduce our data and analytics expertise to the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Governmentwide Policy.”
Awarded under the Enterprise Data Information Management (EDIM) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), the call order has a ceiling value of $35 million over a five year period. Through this order, Karsun Solutions is tasked with backend system development, IT Security Support, and operations and maintenance for the modernization of the OGP Visualization Platform which supports the ITdashboard.org, digitaldashboard.gov, and the Office of Information, Integrity, and Access. These include programs such as Data Center Optimization, 508 compliance, identity management, and digital strategy. In addition, under the EDIM OGP BPA it will provide data management, data transformation, data integration, and data analytics for the Evidence Act, President’s Management Agenda and Federal Real Property.
Karsun Solutions was awarded a spot on the EDIM BPA in June 2020. Under the EDIM vehicle, Karsun aims to modernize the current IT Data System providing an integrated on-demand solution platform to store, access, manage, analyze and visualize the integrated IT data for cross functional analytics. It was awarded the Database and Middleware Systems Task Order under the Alliant Small Business contract vehicle in 2018. Karsun Solutions currently supports the management and modernization of database and application middleware environments as part of that award. Learn more at karsun-llc.com/edim-fact-sheet.
Recently GSA awarded Karsun two task orders under the CIO Modernization and Enterprise Transformation (COMET) blanket purchase agreement (BPA) this year. Karsun will modernize the agency’s point-of-sale system under the $5.2 million GSA Enhanced Checkout task order. Announced in September, the $75 million FLEET AFP task order will modernize the agency’s fleet platform. Both awards support the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS).
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions is a fast-growing, innovative, enterprise modernization firm. The Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Washington Business Journal, and Inc. all recognize Karsun Solutions among the fastest-growing companies in the Washington, D.C. region. Its teams deliver modern software development, cloud solutions, and data and analytics solutions to customers at federal agencies. As an established firm, it possesses a DCAA Approved Accounting System, a CMMI Level 5 – DEV appraisal, and an AWS Government Competency.
Karsun Solutions strengthened its relationship with Amazon Web Services (AWS) through its Innovation Center Data Practice this fall. The center hosts the DataOps NoVa Meetup, a professional development group that introduces the Northern Virginia data and IT community to the latest practices, vendors and solutions for DataOps. The Meetup partnered with AWS for two events.
The Zen of DataOps
On October 22nd the Meetup featured a virtual presentation on The Zen of DataOps. The event began with a brief overview of Karsun’s Data and Cloud Practices by Shaunak Ashtaputre. Next, it welcomed AWS expert Stephen Moon. This virtual presentation dove into AWS Lake Formation and the Data Supply Chain Pipeline.
AWS and Dataguise Help Karsun Customers Improve Data Governance
Shaunak Ashtaputre, Director of the Data Practice and Co-Founder of DataOps NoVa, was invited to share a case study at an event co-hosted by AWS and Dataguise in November 2020. This webinar delved into a specific data governance solution, built with Dataguise on AWS, for one of Karsun’s public sector customers. Learn how these offerings can Reduce Sensitive and Personal Data Risk and Enable Compliance here.
AWS Resources Beyond Data
Karsun Solutions is a proud AWS Advanced Consulting Partner. As such it offers complete cloud solutions in addition to modern software development and data solutions. Current cloud solutions include cloud migration, cloud platform buildout and serverless computing.
Cloud Runway
Included in Karsun’s migration solution is the Cloud Runways toolkits. This enables cloud first organizations to systematically migrate legacy systems to the cloud. The Cloud Practice uses a proprietary multi-criteria decision support framework to perform a robust assessment of the solution providers’ key characteristics. Considering characteristics such as interoperability, flexibility, SLAs and security allows the team to make an optimal selection on the providers. Karsun’s cloud experts also focus on balancing private, public, and hybrid cloud options based on economics, functionality, and security.
Through relationships with vendors like Dataguise and AWS Karsun offers high-quality cloud and data solutions. Its Data, Solution and Development practice backs up each of these resources through employee-centered training and enablement. Learn more about Karsun’s AWS offerings here.
HERNDON, Va. – The General Services Administration (GSA) awarded Karsun Solutions LLC the Enterprise Data Information Management (EDIM). The EDIM is a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with a ceiling value of $96 million over a five-year period. Six companies were awarded a spot on this contract vehicle. Under the vehicle, selected companies will integrate specialized IT services and products for EDIM. Awardees will utilize established and emerging data management and warehousing best practices. These include data warehousing, business intelligence, big-data analytics, content management, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and robotics process automation.
“Entry onto this vehicle is a prime opportunity to showcase the strength of our data and analytics capabilities,” said Karsun Solutions Chief Architect Kartik Mecheri. “Our established data practice enables the infusion of the latest AI and ML solutions to help our customers achieve their goals. We look forward to supporting the GSA mission and the advancement of its data-to-decisions platform.”
The Karsun Innovation Center Data and Analytics practice was formed in 2018 as an extension of the organization’s in-house research and development unit. The data practice provides industry leading expertise in modern data architecture and platforms, data ops, model ops, data security and application data modernization services.
EDIM is one of several data practice engagements at GSA. It previously awarded Karsun the Database and Middleware Systems Task Order under the Alliant Small Business contract vehicle. This is a single-award contract with a ceiling value of $35 million that spans more than five years. Karsun Solutions is currently providing services to manage, support and modernize database and application middleware environments as part of that award.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions is a fast-growing, innovative enterprise modernization firm. Recently awarded Best Company Culture by Comparably.com, its teams deliver modern software development, cloud, and data solutions to customers at government agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration and General Services Administration. Leveraging GoLean, Karsun teams drive digital transformation and help its government customers Do Extraordinary. Learn more at Karsun-LLC.com.
The DataOps NoVa Meetup wrapped up its first 101 series at Karsun Solutions in Herndon, Virginia. Launched in October 2019, this group introduces modern data practices to the Northern Virginia tech community. The first series included discussions and demonstrations from DataOps vendors StreamSets and Dataguise. Wrapping up this series was the introduction to data encryption using middleware components as a viable option to the rapidly emerging issue of sensitive data management in legacy platforms. That session was led by a member of the Karsun Innovation Center (KIC).
Those that attend monthly Meetup events are also invited to attend training workshops at Karsun Solutions. The 101 series culminated with a three day data engineering workshop from StreamSets. Around thirty participants enhanced their data pipelines skills with a combination of vendor-led presentations and hands-on challenges using the StreamSets DataOps platform. At the conclusion of the workshop, most participants had the opportunity to be fully certified as an Expert StreamSets Developer.
The next training series will also include several Meetups featuring vendor discussions and demonstrations, ending with a multi-day workshop. DataOps NoVa March will feature speakers from DataKitchen. This presentation on DataOps Workbenches will be held Thursday, March 19th at 6:00 pm at Karsun Solutions in Herndon. Interested participants may RSVP on the Meetup website.
Shaunak Ashtaputre and the Karsun Data Practice
DataOps NoVa is organized by the Karsun Solutions Data Practice and hosted at the training center at Karsun Solutions in Herndon, Virginia. The practice area formed within the Karsun Innovation Center in 2018. This employee-centric unit melds DevSecOps practices with data integration resources into training and prototyping initiatives.
Shaunak Ashtaputre, an industry expert with more than 20 years of experience, leads the Data Practice and co-organizes the DataOps NoVa Meetup. His extensive background includes experience in business intelligence, data platforms, and data warehousing. In addition to the topic introductions at the monthly Meetups he also speaks at industry events. He will present “Data Pipelines and Delivery in Multi-Tenanted Cloud-Based Data and Analytics Platforms” on March 11th at the rvatech/DataSummit in Richmond, Virginia.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions is a fast-growing, innovative, enterprise modernization firm serving the U.S. government. Our teams deliver software development, cloud, and advanced analytics solutions to customers at agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, and General Services Administration. The Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Washington Business Journal, and Inc. all recognize Karsun Solutions among the fastest growing companies in the Washington, DC region. We are an established firm, with a DCAA Approved Accounting System, CMMI Level 5 – DEV appraisal, and AWS Government Competency as well as ISO 9001, ISO 20000 and ISO 27001 certifications
ALEXANDRIA, VA – The United States Securities and Exchange Commission awarded KHS Solutions, LLC a spot on the SEC One IT contract. SEC One IT is an indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract with a ceiling value of $2.5 billion. The seven information technology channels under the vehicle are Application Management and Development (Platform), IT Infrastructure and Operations Management (Small Business Only), Business Solutions Delivery (Non-Platform), Information Security, IT Data Management, IT Governance, and Technology Business Management.
KHS Solutions, LLC is an SBA approved 8(a) Mentor Protégé Joint Venture between Karsun Solutions (Mentor) and Mindcubed (Protégé). Karsun Solutions is a premier IT and consulting services company with a culture of innovation. They offer a portfolio of Enterprise Modernization services to both Federal agencies and commercial clients. Mindcubed is an SBA 8(a) certified information technology software and services company headquartered in the District of Columbia.
We are excited to join together with Mindcubed for the opportunity to present solutions to the SEC’s data management and enterprise modernization challenges, noted Sundar Vaidyanathan, CEO of Karsun Solutions.
We are honored and look forward to delivering innovative solutions to fulfill SEC mission needs with our Mentor Karsun Solutions and teaming partners, noted Habib Nasibdar CEO of Mindcubed.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions is a fast-growing, innovative enterprise modernization firm. Recently awarded Best Company Culture by Comparably.com, its teams deliver modern software development, cloud, and data solutions to customers at government agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration and General Services Administration. Leveraging GoLean, Karsun teams drive digital transformation and help its government customers Do Extraordinary. Learn more at Karsun-LLC.com.
About Mindcubed
Mindcubed thrives on and excels at delivering creative quality solutions quickly and cost-effectively in the areas of Big Data Analytics, Mobile Apps Development, Agile Systems Engineering, and Cybersecurity. Mindcubed’s GRID™ software offering is a cloud and mobile enabled, enterprise-scale Big Data platform. GRID provides a unique combination of agile analytics, business compliance, and statistical simulation capabilities, enabling organizations to understand trends, predict outcomes and make data-driven decisions. Mindcubed is appraised at CMMI Level 3 DEV and its Quality Management System (QMS) MindPROVE is ISO 9001:2015 certified.