US Small Business Administration

Executive summary

The software applications that underpin SBA’s Small Business Certifications, Small Business Search, and Data Analytics systems were outdated. Specifically, the user experience with these products no longer met the expectations or needs of the Agency. With the vision of revamping several of SBA’s key interlinked digital services, the agency embarked on an initiative to modernize its legacy systems with a modern technology platform on the cloud.

Our team analyzed the existing system’s application current and intended usage and designed a highly customizable, modern, cloud-based, and unified case management system. The implementation strategy included a multi-tiered solution that was developed iteratively using agile framework.

Business Challenge / Problem Detail

SBA administers several small business contracting programs including certifications, loan guarantees and access to financing and contracting programs to increase opportunities for small business in Federal procurements. The LOB software applications were outdated. Additionally, the hardware that underpins the Agency’s Small Business Certifications, Small Business Search, and Data Analytics were obsolete. With the vision of revamping several of SBA’s key interlinked digital services, the agency embarked on an initiative to modernize its Certification, Search, and Data Analytics tools by replacing current legacy systems with a modern technology platform on the cloud. The primary objective of this new platform, called SBA ONE, is to support the current and future needs of the nation’s small business sector.

Output / Our Solution

Enquizit, along with its teaming partner Telesis, was contracted to modernize SBA’s key digital services. Our team analyzed the existing system’s application current and intended usage in order to design a highly customizable, modern, cloud-based, and unified case management system. The implementation strategy included a multi-tiered solution that was developed iteratively using agile framework. Our architects designed a system with mission critical performance at scale, with elasticity, flexibility, and a better TCO.

SBA-ONE is being implement as a cloud native solution with no reliance on any non AWS data center. Amazon Web Services (AWS) was chosen as the cloud service based on the rich feature set, reliability, security and scalability. With minimal customization efforts, SBA-ONE is monitored and managed for availability and performance.

To ensure compliance, 508 compliant user interfaces are developed with HTML5, Angular JS, and Bootstrap. PostgresSQL is used as the database engine, and Ruby on Rails is used to develop logical layers and APIs for the system. The roadmap is equipped with Contractor Certification, Small Business Search, and other products to support the nation’s small business sector’s current and future needs.

Enquizit Role

Enquizit’s extensive experience and exclusive focus on Cloud solutions and Agile development shows in our approach which was closely aligned with USDS’s playbook. This enabled easy synergy and cohesiveness with the Government stake holders. The following were some of the key responsibilities of our team:

Tooling (Tools and Technologies)

Expected Challenges

Client:

US Small Business Administration (SBA). One of SBA’s primary missions is to assist small businesses and their contracting personnel to ensure a fair proportion of contracts are awarded to small businesses.

Industry:

Government

Problem Statement

Increased complexity of the certification process, non-scalable infrastructure and outdated functionality prompted the organization to initiate an Application Modernization effort.

Goals and Benefits

Core Partners:

AWS, Telesis and USDS (USDS to Ensure that development complies with new governmental guidelines, they did not participate in any development activities)