Kurrent Logic

Projects

The work, and how it went.

Three records from our work with the Department of Homeland Security — each one written the same way: the obstacle we met, the path we took, and what actually shipped.

We are trusted by the nation's leading security agencies to deliver secure and reliable IT solutions that support their critical missions.

2009 Serving federal customers continuously since then.
30,000+ Users supported across DHS HQ, ICE, CBP, and USCIS.
HUBZone & SDB Certified small business, verified through SBA.

Case 01

Moving DHS into the Cloud

To support the mission of countering border-related threats, DHS needed more modern technology. Partnering with Kurrent Logic, DHS asked for multiple applications to be migrated to the cloud — for the security, data analytics, AI data models, and environment abstraction it brings.

The obstacle

Product owners had to be brought along on why the cloud was worth it. A platform had to be chosen between Amazon's AWS, Microsoft's Azure, and Google Cloud. Migration had to be balanced against each application's live development work, and it was not yet clear which DHS teams were available to support the effort.

Our path

Anticipating the request, Kurrent Logic hired and trained for cloud experience ahead of it. We worked with DHS leadership to identify which teams outside our own needed to be contracted, ran informational sessions and shared material with customers on cloud versus on-prem, and had developers scope what each application would need to change.

The result

DHS and Kurrent Logic selected Microsoft's Azure Government Cloud, the platform our team specializes in. Migration entered the Agile backlog so it could be prioritized alongside development, every team member was trained in DHS policies and procedures, and applications were planned, tested, and deployed with the customer.

Built with
  • Azure Government Cloud
  • Azure Blob Storage
  • Agile backlog
HR System & Reporting System

A position tracking and HR management information system with filtered, drill-down reporting users build themselves, plus multiple reporting applications under ongoing development and maintenance.

Read the full case

Case 02

Migrating SharePoint 2016 On-Prem to SharePoint Online

Moving DHS SharePoint sites to the cloud meant first working out what many of them even were — and rebuilding the ones whose original builders were long gone.

The obstacle

Many sites were really custom applications: custom pages in JavaScript, jQuery, and CSS, custom forms in Microsoft InfoPath, and workflows built in SharePoint 2010 and 2013. In most cases those contracts had ended and the contractors who built them could no longer be reached.

Our path

Each site became an item in a product backlog. Sites that had been reviewed and estimated were packaged into two-week sprints and assigned to a migration team member. Every site ran as its own small project — its own stakeholders, daily standups, testing, and requirements or feedback sessions as needed.

The result

Rather than carry legacy technology across, the team converted anything with an upcoming Microsoft end of life or end of support — InfoPath forms and both generations of SharePoint Designer workflow — onto the far richer toolset SharePoint Online offers.

Built with
  • SharePoint Online
  • Microsoft InfoPath
  • SharePoint Designer
  • Two-week sprints
Custom-built solutions

The hardest part was identifying and understanding applications built years earlier by contractors hired across different government groups, then deciding how each one should be recreated.

Read the full case

Case 03

Upgrading Legacy Applications

DHS was still settling on its development practices. Kurrent Logic guided the agency into processes that finished applications efficiently, without rushing or overworking the development teams.

The obstacle

Technologies had to be chosen that would stay current and need minimal future rewrites. Product owners had to be trained out of Waterfall and into Agile. And teams had to be shown how their applications needed to evolve to meet new security requirements and work better.

Our path

We put applications on a shared tech stack, so developers could move between them and security assessments could be streamlined. We made Agile approachable for owners used to older methods by picking an accessible platform and teaching it plainly. Demonstrations and mockups showed what an upgraded application would actually do.

The result

Angular single-page front ends over .NET Core in C#, with Entity Framework and MSSQL Server behind them. Agile runs in Microsoft Azure DevOps, supported by presentations and videos built to bring product owners onto the process.

Built with
  • Angular
  • .NET Core (C#)
  • Entity Framework
  • MSSQL Server
  • Azure DevOps
Vehicle Tracking Application

Built for an international law enforcement agency, it retired a paper-based process for a desktop and mobile interface. Sister agencies have since opened discussions about adopting it.

Read the full case

The long record

Some of this work is nearly two decades old.

The reporting system work traces back to 2006, which is the part of the record that matters most: the applications did not just ship, they stayed supported.

  1. 2006

    A reporting system is created

    Kurrent Logic team members played a key role in building the reporting system application that the agency still runs.

  2. 2009

    Support costs fall, and stay down

    Maintaining the application had previously required multiple engineers in an operations and maintenance state. Since 2009 our team has saved the government hundreds of thousands of dollars annually by significantly reducing the number of engineers needed to support it.

  3. 2016

    The Director's Award

    Those who spearheaded the contract in 2016 were honored with the Director's Award, the highest recognition within the program, for the Vehicle Tracking Application.

  4. Today

    Supporting ICE with ATLAS

    Kurrent Logic supports U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on ATLAS.