CAST in the U.S
Washington D.C.
Phone: +1 703 863 9908
Learn how federal agencies are using Software Analysis & Measurement solutions to reduce risks of critical systems, maximize IT program and system integrator performance. CAST Federal Solutions provides technology and services in the following areas:
IT Vendor Transparency
Federal IT Programs are challenged to provide unambiguous guidance to system integrator partners as to the specific standards by which the delivered application products will be assessed. Software analysis and measurement based on CISQ standards promotes common understanding for government and providers as to ongoing delivery reliability, security and quality of the systems. This results in 50% lower likelihood of testing or deployment defects while reducing production risks and cost of rework.
For examples of contracts, and SLA’s, please contact the CAST Federal Practice: castfed@castsoftware.com
Vulnerabilities in software that are introduced by mistake or poor practices are a serious problem today". - Cyber Security: A Crisis of Prioritization, the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee.
Software Assurance
Software that is designed with solid architectural design emphasizing reliability and resiliency is more difficult to penetrate. Poor design provides vulnerabilities that are infected and which are often replicated and propagated within a complex system. Performing late stage security audits and building firewalls is not enough—security must be designed and built into an application and then rigorously verified – multiple times within each and every release. CAST’s Software Assurance solution provides a systematic set of evaluations to support conformance to requirements and standards around:
- Trustworthiness - No exploitable vulnerabilities exist, either of malicious or unintentional origin
- Predictable Execution - Justifiable confidence that software, when executed, functions as intended.
- Reliability & Performance - Security is ultimately a component of overall quality risk. Applications that are slow or unstable are more easily breached. This is recognized by ISO, CISQ, and CWE.
Software Code Quality Checking (SCQC)
SCQC is an automated analysis of source code to ensure that the system should continue within development, demonstration, and test. SCQC helps ensure that the application in development or sustainment can meet the stated performance, maintainability, and usability requirements within cost (program budget), schedule (program schedule), risk, and other system constraints. SCQC complements Developmental Test and Evaluation (DT&E) and Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) by identifying defects earlier in the system development lifecycle (SDLC).
Benchmarking
Effective benchmarking enables an organization to easily identify and prioritize opportunities—by process, vendor and cost driver—which, in turn, results in relevant improvement targets and stronger overall business case for the transformation effort. CAST introduced the industry’s first software quality benchmarking capability in 2010. The service, (Appmarq,) gathers data from CAST analyses performed across global industry and public sector IT organizations and provides normalized data for CAST clients in support of external benchmarking. This work is being done at the program and enterprise levels in a number of organizations in industry and government.
Measuring IT Productivity
One of the most vexing problems in software engineering – in Industry or Federal sectors - is measuring the amount of progress made in developing or sustaining a software product. The largest opportunity for improving quality and productivity during application development is in eliminating its largest sources of waste: defects and the rework they cause, 30-50% of the development effort is devoted to rework.
CAST Application Intelligence Platform (AIP) is a powerful IT operational management platform that gives OCIO and Program executives the visibility and control to improve business productivity to reduce IT costs. CAST has the ability to quantify quality and progress, rather than just time spent.
IT Portfolio Analysis
The stove-piped and complex nature of the Federal enterprise has led to a proliferation of duplicate and low priority investments in information technology. In short, agencies’ portfolios have become cluttered with obsolete systems that no longer deliver full value to the citizen. Fact-based approach to IT planning and budgeting, improves efficiency in the governance of application portfolio rationalization efforts, leading to optimized allocation of funding and resources. Align application investment decisions more effectively with organizational strategies and priorities through an effective dialogue between program managers and IT.
a failure to satisfy a non-functional requirement can be critical, even catastrophic…non-functional requirements are sometimes difficult to verify. We cannot write a test case to verify a system’s reliability… The ability to associate code to non-functional properties can be a powerful weapon in a software engineer’s arsenal.
Federal Partnerships
CAST has successfully teamed with Boeing, CSC, Northrop Grumman, Accenture, Keane, Ingenium, Booz Allen, Lockheed, Raytheon & Sybase Corporation
Contract Vehicle
GSA Schedule (GS-35F-0649S)
CAST Section 508 Statement of Policy
Click here to get the latest version of our Section 508 Statement of Policy
Prior Performance
CAST prior performance in Federal contracts includes:
