Custom Application Development

We specialize in developing, delivering, hosting, and supporting custom-designed web applications that provide solutions unavailable in Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software. We are a complete custom software service provider that meets our clients’ needs at every stage in the software development process, from initial system requirements development to Tier 3 Help Desk support for delivered products. We are well-versed in managing software development in a virtual environment, using tools and processes to guarantee robust and secure delivery of our solutions onto our clients’ production systems. Additionally, we have extensive experience providing hands-on technical and end-user training for the systems we develop, both in-person and remotely via the web.

We offer a full spectrum of support, from SME one-offs to fulltime, multiyear engagements.

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We developed and continue to support the Department of Defense’s Program of Record for Knowledge Management/Lessons Learned. The technology evolved from a single server on an incubation network to multiple servers on three different security-classification networks supporting users across every Service, Combatant Command and DoD Agency. As a result of this experience, we possess expertise creating and maintaining IT systems of a complexity uncommon for a business of our size. We have applied this expertise to successfully deliver custom software solutions to the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, DOI, DOJ, the Defense Intelligence Agency, as well as commercial clients.

While our language of choice is ColdFusion, we also have extensive experience successfully completing projects built upon a wide array of languages and platforms, ranging from timekeeping systems designed on LAMP stacks to mobile applications written in Java and C++. We also support applications running on an Oracle Database and have expertise in many of the most popular CMS solutions.

Custom web-based applications

STS developed and implemented a custom web-based solution for hosting suggestions and requests from across the U.S. Air Force’s Global Strike Command. We converted a legacy SharePoint system into a web-accessible, mobile-optimized application and migrated several years’ worth of legacy data to the new system. We developed the Strike Now website so that any Android, Windows or Apple iPhone-based browser could interface with the site and so that the display conforms to the screen resolution and features of the user’s system. Ease of access combined with excellent continuity and familiarity between the old and new systems led to wide utilization across the command.

Mobile Applications

STS delivered the FDA’s first mobile application in 2014 and has since provided a total of 4 hybrid mobile applications for the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research – Division of Online Communications (DOC): 1) “Drug Shortage database,” 2) “Drugs@FDA”, 3) “The Electronic Orange Book,” and 4) “The National Drug Code database.” We provided the FDA with hybrid mobile applications. Our “hybrid application” solution required a single set of application code, using core web technologies, such as HTML5/CSS/JavaScript, which were then compiled into platform-specific applications that can be delivered to the device through the respective App Stores. This approach afforded the flexibility to compile for additional platforms (like Windows Phone or BlackBerry Webworks). This approach differs from native application development because instead of the code base being written in Objective C (for iOS platforms) or Java (for Android platforms), the application is coded in the web technologies listed above, such as HTML or CSS and then the differentiation between platforms is initiated at the point of wrapping the mobile application for deployment. We used Cordova for this process. Cordova is a popular and vetted cross-platform tool designed to streamline the mobile application development process while maintaining the features specific to each platform, accessed through APIs.

eLearning

The Advisory Council for Historic Preservation (ACHP) is an independent federal agency that promotes the preservation, enhancement, and sustainable use of the historical resources of the United States. By developing a custom e-learning course delivery system, we helped ACHP expand its training curriculum to reach a broader audience and target constituencies not fully served by onsite training. We host the final solution, continuously update it with new e-learning courses, and maintain accurate and secure records of processed registrations and course completions. The system has been fully integrated with Pay.gov and its features include the generation of certificates for course completion and reporting capabilities for instructors.

eCommerce

STS currently provides the DOJ’s UNICOR FPI Central Office with HTML/CSS/ASP.NET development and SQL Server database support services. These services include but are not limited to programming, development, and knowledge-transfer as per the direction of the FPI stakeholders. We have migrated UNICOR databases from legacy versions to the most recent version deployed at UNICOR and maintain the database backup and maintenance plans, stored procedures and all associated web servers as part of the UNICOR team. As opposed to upgrading the existing databases, we scripted everything for each transition and created a new database and migrated to the newly established SQL database. This was a more effectual and much cleaner option for UNICOR to start with a fresh, up to date database standard.

Lessons Learned

STS developed and now supported the maintenance and improvements to the Department of Defense Joint Staff J7 Lessons Learned Information System (JLLIS) for more than a decade. This system is used by every Service, Combatant Command and DoD Agency as the System of Record for Lessons Learned / Knowledge Management and Sharing. This project evolved from storyboards within the United States Marine Corps to the system being selected as the best of breed, and then System of Record for the Department of Defense. The technology evolved from a single server on an incubation network to multiple servers on three different security-classification networks supporting more than 100,000 users. We worked with numerous DoD stakeholders to develop this process, and evolved the software to meet the end users’ needs. To create JLLIS, we integrated the individual lessons learned systems utilized by the individual commands and migrated the consolidated system from the USMC incubation servers in Quantico to production facilities at Fort Huachuca. We subsequently transitioned to JLLIS the lessons learned systems for the US Army, Army ISR, CCO, DISA, DoS, HPRC, NCCS, and USUHS and later consolidated all JLLIS instances into a single codebase while retaining each user organization’s ability to customize the system.

This single codebase approach removed the inefficiencies associated with maintaining a separate development path for each customer that diverged from the original platform. The new model, called N-Tier, enabled each organization, or tier, to apply customization to the software by adding modules to the underlying application that could be toggled on or off by administrators at the appropriate level. For example, the Navy required a port visit module that was of limited utility to other users. Using N-Tier, we developed a module that provided the requested functionality, but was visible only to Navy organizations. This modular approach allows us to provide a level of customization to the end user, but ensures that the base code of the application does not diverge into multiple development paths, providing tremendous flexibility to the government at a reasonable cost.