Charleston Hub: Distributed Delivery in Action

Todd Dunagan, a technical lead in Charleston, South Carolina has a question about the open source cloud solution he’s developing. So, he taps the collective knowledge of his team: He asks Mat Nelson, a senior software engineer who’s sitting right next to him, and Stephanie Condrey, a senior web designer who’s hundreds of miles away in Herndon, Virginia.

Face to virtual face, the three colleagues get together via video conference to solve the complex issue at hand.

This is a day in the life at our Charleston Digital Hub. Whether it’s architecting a backend server or working out a microservices application programming interface for a shopping cart, the right people are only a click away.

“I love being able to draw on such deep levels of expertise across the firm,” says Todd. “No matter where we sit—in our Charleston Hub, in Herndon, or elsewhere around the country— we’re able to work together to solve our clients’ problems. I have access to the firm’s network of digital professionals, right at my fingertips.”

At Booz Allen, distributed delivery is an integral part of our software development for government and commercial clients every day. Our bustling community of digital professionals is designing software solutions that solve some of our nation’s toughest problems.

Take our work for the Department of Veterans Affairs, for example. We’re using scaled Agile, DevOps, cloud development, and management expertise to improve the Veterans Benefit Management System. It’s one of the largest scaled Agile projects within the Federal Government operating in a distributed delivery model. Or, with the Internal Revenue Service, where we’ve created a powerful validation tool that helps verify healthcare data from the Affordable Care Act on tax returns.

The Charleston Hub is just one location in our growing distributed delivery footprint, and part of the firm’s Digital Solutions Network. A virtual network of digital capabilities, partnerships, and modern Agile and DevOps methodologies, it taps into the collective creativity and innovation of our technology professionals.

Integrated teams of software developers, systems administrators, quality assurance engineers, agile coaches, business analysts, and strategists collaborate in Charleston’s newly renovated, open-team facility—and virtually across the country—to develop digital solutions. The Digital Solutions Network’s cloud-based communications and technology infrastructure allows our people to offer scale and surge support no matter where they are located. In this dynamic environment, they have the freedom to think creatively, while designing and building software solutions for both local and geographically dispersed clients.

Across the nation, our hubs strengthen the sense of community among our digital professionals and help people create connections. In Charleston, our people make an extra special effort to bolster those connections right in the hub. All the professionals sit on one floor within their individual teams, and there are no traditional office spaces.

The sense of community runs deep. A “Ministry of Culture” volunteer club plans fun social activities like Waffle Wednesdays and other theme-based events on a regular basis. And twice a year they reorganize the floor plan and where people sit. That way, coworkers run into new faces on their way to the café, outdoor patio, or gym, and are encouraged to get to know new people.

“We’ve engineered the workspace to bring people together. It’s part of our culture, and makes a huge difference in how we relate to each other, and our clients,” says Chief Technologist Bob Williams. “Our teams and team members all get to know each other. It creates a playing field of trust, rapport, and collaboration. That breeds innovation and, in turn, supports greater success when we deliver to our clients.”

This energized and supportive environment allows our people to concentrate on designing and developing the digital solutions at the heart of our clients’ most important missions.