Karsun Solutions, the Enterprise Modernization Experts, announced the rollout of Konnect Anywhere. Konnect Anywhere is an employee-centric approach to today’s adapting work environment with an emphasis on collaboration, innovation, and delivery excellence. This new approach enables multiple options for Karsun employees. Team members may remain remote, utilize Karsun collaborative workspaces in Northern Virginia, continue onsite support for specific customers or use a hybrid approach.
The Karsun Solution Headquarters is scheduled to re-open as a collaborative space in September 2021. Employees opting to spend part of their time in the office may reserve workstations using a hoteling tool included as part of the Karsun Konnect employee app. Teams may also reserve collaborative spaces. Video conferencing-equipped rooms include access to digital workplace tools created by the Karsun Innovation Center (KIC) designed to support mixed remote and in-person teams.
Karsun Teams have been remote since March 2020. Over the past year, Karsun invested heavily in digital workplace innovations to support its new remote-friendly environment. The Konnect Anywhere initiative represents a long-term commitment to supporting flexible, remote work for modern software development, cloud and data solution teams. It is also an extension of the 2021 #GrowWithKarsun program, an employee-centered professional development initiative. This program, when combined with the new Konnect Anywhere initiative, allows team members in any location to share and participate in Innovation Town Halls, Karsun Academy training workshops and Practice Areas lead by experts embedded with frontline delivery teams.
As part of this commitment Karsun will also continue its virtual recruiting program. As one of the region’s fastest growing companies it is hiring nationwide for both IT and development roles. From job fair to interview a Talent Acquisition specialist will guide prospective candidates throughout the virtual recruitment process.
Karsun currently hosts several Virtual National Open House events throughout the year. Prospective team members may receive information about upcoming virtual events by registering for the Talent Community located at KarsunCareers.com. Candidates may also browse the careers site for positions ranging from Full Stack Developer to Cloud Data Architect.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions is a fast-growing, innovative, enterprise modernization firm recently named a Technology Industry Top Workplace and one of the Best Places to Work in Washington D.C. Its teams deliver modern software development, cloud and data solutions to customers at government agencies such as DHS, FAA and GSA. 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. It is an established firm with a DCAA Approved Accounting System and CMMI Level 5 – DEV appraisal, plus both the AWS Government Competency and AWS Migration Competency designations. It also holds ISO 9001, ISO 20000 and ISO 27001 certifications.
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
Karsun Solutions concluded 2019 celebrating its ten year anniversary. In addition to early enterprise modernization leadership, it cemented a decade-long commitment to innovation through the Karsun Innovation Center (KIC). By combining industry leadership with ingenuity Karsun won multiple $100+ million prime contracts with IT modernization work at agencies including DHS, FAA, and GSA.
Today, the Innovation Center leads teams in researching emerging technologies, forming industry relationships, and developing customer prototypes. Karsun wraps up 2019 celebrating the innovative spirit driving these first ten years. From automation to zombie code the Innovation Center and Karsun leadership teams are IT leaders, lending expert counsel and educating the community on best practices in emerging technology.
ACT-IAC
Karsun Solutions Chief Operating Officer Terry Miller kicked off 2019 as the Industry Chair for the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council’s (ACT-IAC) Partners Program. One of three professional development programs offered by ACT-IAC, the Partners Program pairs senior industry and government leaders together for a series of in-depth sessions throughout the year. This year’s program concluded with a series of panel presentations at the organization’s annual Imagine Nation ELC conference. In addition to the Partners Program, Senior Director of Business Development Juan Robles is an Industry Vice Chair for the Voyagers Program. Participants graduating from both the programs become ACT-IAC Fellows. In total two Karsun leaders became Fellows in 2019, Sudhir Duggineni and Shaunak Ashtaputre. Satish Alluri was selected for the 2020 Voyagers class. The addition of Satish will bring Karsun’s total number of ACT-IAC Fellows to ten.
AI/ML and RPA
In addition to ACT-IAC fellowships, Karsun experts also join the organization’s working groups. Manish Bhatia from Karsun’s Cloud Solutions practice is a member of both ACT-IAC’s Intelligent Automation Working Group and Igniting Innovation Selection Committee. This fall the working group released its Robotic Process Automation (RPA) playbook. The playbook is designed for government organizations considering RPA pilots or accelerated development.
Business Leadership at Scale
The Washington Business Journal honored Karsun Solutions CEO Sundar Vaidyanathan as a member of its 2019 Minority Business Leader Award class. Honorees are among the region’s top 25 minority business leaders. That spring he also joined the TiE DC panel on Scaling and Growth. With Sundar and Co-Founder Kartik Mecheri at the helm, the Karsun’s leadership expanded, including the addition of industry veteran Ben Marglin as the new VP of Client Services, as Karsun received a series of awards for growth and innovation in 2019.
CMMI Level 5 DEV
In February 2019, Karsun Solutions announced its software development unit was appraised at CMMI Level 5 DEV. At this level, an organization continually improves its processes based on a quantitative understanding of its business objectives and performance needs. At the time of the appraisal, fewer than 50 organizations in the United States were rated CMMI Level 5 DEV.
COMET BPA
The General Services Administration (GSA) announced in November 2019 Karsun Solutions was one of twelve vendors selected for a spot on the CIO Modernization and Enterprise Transformation (COMET) BPA. The vehicle is intended to create a multiple award BPA on GSA’s IT 70 Schedule. It is the successor to 2014’s CAMEO contract. Karsun’s GSA DMS program also celebrated its first anniversary this year.
DevOps Innovation Practice
The KIC spun off its new DevOps practice led by Samir Bham. It is the second of several practice areas launching from the Innovation Center. An employee-focused research and development unit, it enables the adoption of DevSecOps practices. This practice, along with the Data Practice launched in 2018, hosts weekly Work from KIC workshops held in the new Herndon Headquarters.
Employee Development
Karsun Solutions invested in employee development early in 2019. The firm took the opportunity to train the more than 150 team members impacted by the partial government shutdown. These team members returned to work in February with new skillsets in microservices, domain driven design, web application security and cloud solutions.
FEMA Grants Management Modernization
This year Karsun began work on the FEMA Grants Management Modernization (GMM) program. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded Karsun Solutions the Agile development contract. The program will streamline grants management across the agency’s 40+ grant programs through a user-centered, business-driven approach. This five-year single award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with a ceiling value of $80 million was awarded under Full and Open Competition. It was Karsun’s first Full and Open contract win.
Government Competency
Karsun Solutions received its AWS Government Competency in 2019. This designation recognizes that Karsun Solutions has deep experience developing solutions for government customers delivering mission-critical workloads and applications on Amazon Web Services. Leading up to the competency announcement the cloud solutions and DevSecOps practices shared some of their favorite AWS case studies.
Office Opening
In September Karsun Solutions moved into its new 75,000 square foot headquarters in Herndon, Virginia. The new facility supports teams servicing Karsun’s DHS, FAA, and GSA portfolios. It is also home to the Karsun Innovation Center and training facilities.
Records Digitization
Karsun Solutions Co-Founder and Chief Architect Kartik Mecheri appeared on Government Matters TV in April. On the program, he broke down NARA 2022 and the future of records digitization. Tune in to learn more about Karsun’s modernization approach.
SEC One IT
In March, Karsun Solutions announced the 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. KHS Solutions, LLC is an SBA approved 8(a) Mentor Protégé Joint Venture between Karsun Solutions (Mentor) and Mindcubed (Protégé).
Test Automation
Automation Test Lead Aditi Mulay spoke at several industry events throughout 2019 including Agile Testing Days and SeleniumConf London. Fellow automation test lead Ricardo Mediavilla joined her for Agile 2019. A trainer and mentor to QA teams Aditi speaks on Object Oriented Programming approaches to automation frameworks. She advocates for automating in the right manner and ensuring tests are reusable and maintainable.
Zombie Code
In October Karsun Solutions as part of its mentor-protégé JV KHS Solutions shared “Zombie Code,” a look at the importance of dead code analysis. This practice is already part of Karsun’s development methodology. It is also one of many ways the Innovation Center proactively prototypes solutions to common modernization problems while building a roadmap for adoption among Karsun’s delivery teams. The Zombie Code video was a special Halloween release on LinkedIn. Follow Karsun there for the latest on enterprise modernization, corporate growth and award wins.
The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) announced the release of the first volume of its Intelligent Automation Playbook. This playbook is designed for agencies considering Robotic Process Automation (RPA), running pilots or accelerating deployment. By automating administrative tasks RPA may also address the shrinking federal workforce and decreasing budgets.
The President’s Management Agenda, Cross-Agency Priority Goal 6 encourages shifting from low-value to high-value work. This imperative challenges agencies to find efficient solutions for administrative processes. These include tasks like data entry, completing forms using information read in a document and extracting then processing data. In addition to improving efficiency, accuracy, auditability and compliance, RPA adoption should reduce cycle time and increase citizen and employee satisfaction.
The playbook addresses implementation from organizational readiness through operating and maturing RPA. The playbook was preceded by the Intelligent Automation Primer, released in January 2019. This is suggested reading for those unfamiliar with intelligent automation and RPA.
The playbook and primer were developed by ACT-IAC’s Intelligent Automation Working Group. Manish Bhatia, from Karsun Solutions Cloud Practice, is a member of the working group. In May he shared his thoughts on the solutions demonstrated at ACT-IAC’s Igniting Innovation event.
Karsun Solutions supports ACT-IAC’s professional development and working group programs. ACT-IAC programs build relationships between government and industry. Like many Karsun team members, Manish is deeply connecting to the IT contracting industry through ACT-IAC. In March, Karsun Solutions spotlighted his involvement in these emerging technology communities.
Manish Bhatia, an innovator the in Karsun Solutions Cloud Practice, recently attended Igniting Innovation, the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council’s (ACT-IAC’s) celebration of innovation in government modernization. Below he reflects on his experience at the event and as a member of the evaluation committee. This post first appeared on LinkedIn.
One cold winter day in 2016 as I was preparing to join the GovCon industry, my mind was clouded with certain doubts – I was wondering whether the government was ready ‘Enough’ to imbibe the latest and greatest in technologies for efficient and effective solutions for the citizens. What better use of the hard earned taxpayer’s money? Hailing from the commercial sector where cutting-edge is the norm, the Government industry is thought by many to be ‘jaded’ or slow in adopting the latest and greatest in technology.
My doubts quickly died when I first joined Karsun Solutions LLC, where innovation was weaved into the very fabric of the company. The entire focus was to achieve the extraordinary while defying the status quo for its customers utilizing nothing but the most advanced technologies and processes. Additionally, my selection as an evaluator on the ACT-IAC Igniting Innovation panel convinced me to change my own ‘jaded’ belief! I am honored to be on the panel to assess and evaluate the multitude of innovations across various walks of the Government industry. Applicants here are solving an array of ultra-complex problems with use cases ranging from utilizing Augmented Reality to save lives of Air Force Pilots to sophisticated Blockchain and Machine Learning solutions for the age-old problem of government acquisition systems to everything in between.
I was stunned! A few of the use cases strongly caught my attention:
- Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) – GSA FEDSIM
- HHS ACCELERATE – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Pilot Training Next – SAIC
Process Improvement — In the world of Government business, it is a known fact that obtaining efficient service from the GovCon community is difficult, whether by vendors or by the government agency. One has to comply with FAR rules and often times it’s difficult for both the government and the startups to do business due to these regulations. GSA FEDSIM’s Commercial Solutions Opening – (CSO) initiative is an answer to this problem. It offers a platform for the government to buy innovative solutions from organizations without complying with the FAR rule book. GSA and DHS can procure innovative services easily through the reduction of barriers, contract clauses and paperwork, in turn freeing the government to obtain top-notch services from innovative companies. The CSO solution is a win-win for both the sectors, bringing in high-quality innovation to agencies at a break-neck speed which took months in the previous procurement process.
Innovative use of Technology — HHS ACCELERATE (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) could very well become the future of Procurement not only within the US government but also for governments across the world. It’s a one stop shop for Procurement with APIs to Sam.gov and has dramatically improved user experience between the contracting officer and vendors by pre-populating templates. Vendors can enhance their profile by adding capabilities that could be easily searched by contracting officers. They can quickly upload their catalogs on the platform while contracting officers can easily create documents like RFI with a click of a button.The key is the trust and transparency that is shared across the system using a decentralized database incorporated using Blockchain technologies. This enables an agency for ‘Smart Contracts’ that could be executed by various parts of the agency rather than relying on one particular department. ACCELERATE is also powered by AI and machine learning which reviews content within the agency acquisition plan and selects applicable clauses for preview along with the populated form and solicitation at any point.
Disruptive Innovation to save lives – Pilot Training NEXT (PTN) is an experiential approach designed to maximize pilot trainees’ capacity for learning. The US Air Force Air Education Training Command is using this approach to accelerate students through the undergraduate pilot training course that teaches them basic airmanship and aircraft control. PTN utilizes Augmented Reality to generate a sophisticated simulation environment in which a trainee student can operate a variety of aircraft seamlessly. This allows them to develop critical thinking skills to fly safely and think quickly when operating an aircraft beyond the memory associated with flying a single type of aircraft. It uses biometrics, advanced analytics, human performance and advanced learning strategies to achieve and provide indicators of practical learning and student improvement. Students who use PTN can quickly learn from mistakes made during simulation allowing them to train in different situations thus saving lives in the future. PTN is the future of Air Force.
My thoughts are certainly changing as the season is changing from winter to summer and I envision that the government along with GovCon community will continue to make big strides in making the lives of citizens better through innovation and events of the likes — ACT-IAC Igniting Innovation is encouraging to solve problems like never before! We all have a responsibility to keep igniting the innovations as this is what humans have done from the beginning of evolution and this is what have to do for a better future for generations to come.
Manish Bhatia represents Karsun’s collaborative spirit within the IT contracting industry. Check out the Karsun Innovation Center for the latest on IT modernization innovation at Karsun.
George Mason University students partnered with the Karsun Innovation Center to develop a rapid prototyping tool for microservices. Joseph Oliver, Artin Malekian and Habib Khalid worked directly with the innovation team on the rapid scaffolding tool. The seniors completed the work as part of their Industry-Sponsored Senior Design Project. Now in its second year, the senior capstone project integrates students’ computer science coursework with hands-on work with their capstone sponsor. The course is a unique opportunity to connect students of the Virginia-based university with the local IT industry. Including Karsun Solutions, eight companies sponsored the work of 28 students as part of the project.
The rapid scaffolding tool developed by the students aids in rapid prototyping for both monolith and microservices applications. Rapid prototyping is of utmost importance to enable human-centered design of software-intensive systems. As organizations build Lean teams, they seek opportunities to build minimum viable products (MVPs) faster with reduced initial cost. Quick set-up, using a rapid prototyping tool, gives teams this power. As an IT modernization firm specializing in modern software development, cloud solutions and advanced analytics, this project supports teams across Karsun
JHipster (https://www.jhipster.tech/) lets development teams generate application code for a variety of frameworks and languages. With this project, the intention was to extend JHipster to include support for additional languages and frameworks, so that the development teams get additional choices for building faster prototypes including polyglot microservices. In particular, the team focused their efforts on enhancing GoLang support for backend services.
The project was mentored by Badri Sriraman and Shanmuga Palanivelu. Badri is Vice President, Karsun Innovation Center (KIC) and the Chief Innovator at GoLean.io. He is an accomplished Senior IT Architect, with over 22 years in developing solutions to modernize enterprise IT systems. Shanmuga has over 14 years of experience in software development doing software design, architecture and full-stack development. He is currently focused on both developing and deploying microservices at scale and implementing DevOps at scale.
Microservices innovation is one of several areas researched within our Karsun Innovation Center. This research and development unit consists of several prototyping teams and Centers of Excellence. These teams also act as subject matter experts, form vendor partnerships, arrange training and host a yearly internship. The innovation center is part of Karsun’s larger mentorship framework which includes industry associations, academic outreach and the Karsun Academy professional development program. We connect with both students and academics through hackathons, talks, and career fairs. The innovation center is still accepting Developer and DevOps interns into their summer program.
Manish Bhatia from Karsun Solutions Cloud Practice joins two communities affiliated with the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC.) A non-profit organization, ACT-IAC connects the IT industry with government leaders. Bhatia will join ACT-IAC’s Intelligent Automation Working Group and the Igniting Innovation selection committee.
Bhatia joined the Intelligent Automation Working Group. The group is part of ACT-IAC’s Emerging Technology Community of Interest. Group members are charged with assessing the current state of innovation then creating industry recommendations.
Bhatia was also recently selected to evaluate the nominations for ACT-IAC’s annual Igniting Innovation Conference and Awards. The 2019 conference will be held May 23 at the Renaissance Washington, DC and feature keynotes, panels and talks by senior government leaders. Exhibitors are competitively selected by this committee. The 40 exhibitors represent cutting-edge public sector IT innovations.
Bhatia represents Karsun’s collaborative spirit within the IT contracting industry. Karsun routinely participates in ACT-IAC’s fellowship and professional development programs, both as mentee and mentor. Sudhir Duggineni is a member of the 2019 Voyager Class and Shaunak Ashtaputre was recently selected for the 2019 Partner Class. Additionally, Karsun Chief Operating Officer Terry Miller is the industry chair for ACT-IAC’s Partner Program.
The federal IT modernization experts, Karsun Solutions enables enterprise transformation for its government customers. Premier customers include the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, and General Services Administration. An innovation-based and performance-driven culture, Karsun Solutions delivers extraordinary outcomes for their customers. Karsun Solutions is an established firm, with a DCAA Approved Accounting System, CMMI Level 5 – DEV appraisal, and ISO 9001, ISO 20000 and ISO 27001 certifications. Partnering with Karsun Solutions ensures the nimbleness, agility, and access to decision makers of a small business without sacrificing the scalability, capabilities, and experience in modern software development, cloud solutions and advanced analytics of a large firm.
Join us as we look back at some of our biggest corporate accomplishments in our Karsun Solutions 2018 in Review.
In January, Innov8tiv Magazine named Jyothi Salibindla, a Senior Software Engineer at Karsun Solutions, one of their Top 50 Women in Tech. She also started the year presenting on microservices implementation in Modern Software Development at both Wonder Women Tech and IEEE’s Women in Engineering Technical Talks. These events connected presenters with executives, innovators and thought leaders.
Karsun Solutions leadership also celebrated our growing FAA Program at All Hands events in Virginia and Oklahoma. In August of 2017 Karsun Solutions was awarded the five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a $145 million ceiling value. By the end of August 2018 the program would add over 150 people.
In February 2018, Chae Song, Director at Karsun Solutions joined the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council’s (ACT-IAC) Partner Program. Members of this 21st class of ACT-IAC fellows are senior executives rising within their respective organizations. Chae would complete the program and graduate in October 2018.
Karsun Solutions Co-Founder Kartik Mecheri joins Red Hat’s IT Modernization Roundtable in March. This expert panel discussed DevOps, cloud migration, and microservices architecture at scale. Learn more about our approach to DevOps, loosely coupled architecture and CI/CD.
Later that month, the General Services Administration awarded Alliant Solutions Partner (ASP) the Database and Middleware Systems (DMS) Task Order under the Alliant Small Business contract vehicle. Karsun Solutions is the managing partner of this Joint Venture and will be the only JV member executing on this contract. This is a single-award contract with a ceiling value of $35 million that spans more than five years. Under this contract, Karsun will be supporting the General Services Administration (GSA) Office of the Chief Information Officer (GSA IT) by providing IT services to manage, support, and modernize its database and application middleware server infrastructure.
We offer a portfolio of enterprise IT modernization solutions across our development, cloud and analytics practices. As an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, Karsun spotlighted this valuable partnership within our Cloud Solutions practice in April 2018. Learn how we Do Extraordinary, Defy Assumptions and deliver customer value with Amazon Web Services.
In May, Sundar Vaidyanathan, Co-Founder and CEO of Karsun Solutions, was elected as a Vice Chair for Finance to the Industry Advisory Council (IAC). The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) is a non-profit educational organization established to improve government’s service delivery and operational performance through the effective and innovative application of technology. More one ACT-IAC can be found at www.actiac.org.
Karsun Solutions was named a Finalist for the 2018 Moxie Award. The program recognizes innovative companies in the DC Metro area. Innovation is a core component of Karsun culture. The Karsun Innovation Center, launched early in the organization’s founding, prototypes solutions and forms partnerships with emerging technology vendors.
Shan Palanivelu and Badri Sriraman, both part of the Karsun Innovation Center, presented at DevFestDC in June. The event brings together innovative developers from across the DC region. They spoke on their experience building data pipelines in Kubernetes using scalable microservices with architectural patterns like Event Sourcing and Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS).
That month, Karsun also announced the launch of their Data Modernization Center of Excellence. The new COE comes as the organization adds a Data Practice to the Karsun Innovation Center. Shaunak Ashtaputre was announced as the new Director of the practice and COE.
Karsun joins the Inc. 5000 for the fourth year in a row in August 2018. Only one in six companies make the list four times. Firms are ranked in the Inc. 5000 based on their growth over the past three years. Ranking four times in a row represents a remarkable seven years of growth.
In September, the Karsun Executive Team join host Jason Miller on Federal New Radio’s Views from the Corner Office. The trio shares their thoughts on the new capabilities oriented proposal climate. Listen in and learn about Karsun’s disruptive approach to government IT modernization.
In the Fall of 2018, Karsun is awarded its first full and open contract. The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded Karsun Solutions, LLC the Federal Emergency Management Agency Grants Management Modernization (FEMA GMM) Program contract. This is a five-year single award BPA with a ceiling value of $80 million.
Karsun Solutions LLC also completed a novation for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading-Edge Solutions (EAGLE II) Functional Category 1 (FC1) Unrestricted Vehicle. The organization recently acquired the DHS Software Development Business Unit from EPS Corporation. With this acquisition and the completion of the novation, Karsun is now a prime contractor on the EAGLE II vehicle.
The Securities and Exchange Commission awards the SEC One OIT contract vehicle to several small businesses including KHS Solutions. An SBA approved mentor-protege 8(a) JV, KHS Solutions is a partnership with Karsun Solutions serving as the mentor and MindCubed serving as the protégé. An indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract with a ceiling value of $2.5 billion, the six information technology channels served under the vehicle are Platform and Application Development, Operations and Maintenance, Business Solutions Delivery, Information Security, Data Management and Analysis, IT Governance, and Technology Business Management. Visit our Contract Vehicles section for a complete list of all vehicles.
In October 2018, Karsun Solutions SDET Aditi Mulay speaks at SeConfChicago. Her talk explores balancing UI testing with API and unit tests. The event is the official Selenium conference for test automation professionals.
The Karsun Innovation Center establishes partnerships with key IT vendors. As part of that relationship, Karsun Academy brings in partners to educate Karsun teams on up and coming technology. The KIC finished the year with a series of workshops and brown bag sessions.
BE GREATER is the challenge we give to all employees at Karsun Solutions. Professional development is one of our core values. We offer the Karsun Academy program as part of our commitment to nurturing enterprise modernization expertise among team members. Karsun offers multiple avenues for in-demand IT skills development through this program.
Workshops from the Karsun Innovation Center
Participation in innovation is a pillar of Karsun culture. The Karsun Innovation Center (KIC) is Karsun’s in-house research and development team. KIC team members act as expert resources for teams at Karsun. As part of that mission, team members establish industry partnerships. Innovation partners include AWS, Appian, Microsoft, and Red Hat. KIC also brings in partner experts to host workshops on topics like DevSecOps and data streams in Internet of Things implementations.
Employee Knowledge Sharing
Knowledge sharing is an extension of our continuous learning culture and GoLean methodology. As part of that philosophy, Karsun also hosts a recurring brown bag series. Teams share insights and learning with their peers across the enterprise. Karsun employees are encouraged to participate in local industry groups. Employees are also encouraged to share their findings through outside organizations. Recent presenters are also invited to present internally at Karsun. Employees were recently treated to talks on microservices and serverless architecture.
Certification Programs
Karsun Solutions’ AWS certification classes are one of the earliest manifestations of the Karsun Academy program. Today Karsun employees have the opportunity to receive training and support for either their AWS Associate or Professional Certifications. They may also work with their supervisor to seek out IT skills certification opportunities in any of our three practice areas: Modern Software Development, Cloud Solutions, or Advanced Analytics.
We are rapidly growing and looking for team members excited to grow with us. Apply through our careers page to join us in Oklahoma, Virginia or Washington, DC. To learn more about professional development at Karsun, speak directly with one of our recruiters during our weekly Talent Thursdays chats. For the latest job openings and Karsun news follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube.
HERNDON, VA – Karsun Solutions announces the formation of a new Data Practice within the Karsun Innovation Center (KIC). Leveraging his 20 plus years in Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing, Shaunak Ashtaputre was named the practice lead. This new practice will focus on data modernization, advanced analytics, and data security as key growth areas.
The organization’s continued investment in Data Modernization innovation is an extension of Karsun Solutions’ Enterprise Modernization and Advanced Analytics expertise. Through this new practice the organization will expand its DevSecOps offerings by melding data integration resources into KIC ongoing initiatives. Some key objectives include:
- Building a Data Modernization Innovation Lab within KIC
- Identifying and nurturing partnerships with key vendors and their ecosystems
- Establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) for Data Modernization and DataOps
- Attracting and nurturing expert-level talent in Data Modernization and Advanced Analytics
- Guiding and assisting with RFP/RFI responses in the areas of Data and Advanced Analytics
- Creating expertise in data migration and modernization related to AWS services
- Creating a cohesive practice and level of expertise across Karsun programs and contracts
With the implementation of the new Data Practice Karsun Solutions continues to establish itself as a one-stop Data-Migration and Modernization shop.
About Shaunak Ashtaputre
Shaunak Ashtaputre has more than 20 years of industry experience, with extensive engagements in Business Intelligence Data Warehousing and other business intelligence initiatives including strategy, architecture, data management, security, design, and delivery across several industry verticals including the Public Sector. Prior to joining Karsun, he ran an analytics consulting small business for several years. Under Karsun Solutions Advanced Analytics practice he currently leads GSA’s analytics, data warehousing, and big data platform. He is responsible for new business across the business intelligence and big data verticals.
About Karsun Solutions
Established in 2009, Karsun Solutions is a premier consulting firm delivering a portfolio of enterprise modernization services to its federal and commercial customers. Its core competencies include Modern Software Development, Cloud Solutions and Advanced Analytics. Its proprietary GoLean® software development methodology combines Agile, Lean, Kanban and DevOps practices throughout the software development lifecycle. The GoLean.io Software-as-a-Service provides a lean management tool-kit combining the best of these practices. Beginning in 2015, Karsun has ranked yearly among the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing US Companies. It was also recognized among the Washington Business Journal’s 50 Fastest Growing Companies. Karsun’s quality, development, and information security practices include CMMI Level 3, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 20000 and ISO 27001 certifications.