Why choose TurningPoint

Think incremental and MVP

• DSP 4: Agile and iterative practices

At TurningPoint, our practice is to deliver a solution as quickly as possible (using short sprints) so that users can promptly access a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Agile development is achieved by working with stakeholders and users to constantly refine and re-prioritize the feature backlog to keep sprints focused while retaining flexibility. While the focus of each sprint remains flexible, each sprint is centered by a defined methodology to ensure quality and customer satisfaction remain high. This includes continuous integration, automated testing, and solution validation through the early and active participation of end users.

User centric approach

• DSP 1: What customer needs
• DSP 2: End to end user experience
• DSP 3: Simple and intuitive

Real users are at the heart of what we do, always. Our 360° view of service delivery, which includes Design, Development, Deployment and Support, means that we interact with users at all phases of service delivery and usage. In the age of a rapidly changing User Interface/User Experience (UI/UX) technology landscape, Intuitive user experience and "keeping it simple" approach to user interfaces which are responsive to all devices is the goal. Prototyping and design sprints which showcase the service to enable feedback is part of our process. At TurningPoint, we also realize that REAL users of the services are not just end users but everyone who touches the system including support professionals and system professionals. These REAL system and support user's feedback is also actively sought by embracing Agile and Iterative model of service development and ensuring a constant feedback loop between what is developed and what is needed to be developed.

Right people for the job

• DSP 6: Accountability
• DSP 7: Experienced teams

Well defined "Accountability" and "Motivated" teams who are programmed to ask all the right questions and work towards a common goal - two common themes which define TurningPoint staff. The well-defined accountability rests with Product Owners and Scrum Masters to ensure that the eyes are on the ball. Stakeholders (TurningPoint's and the Customer's) inputs and executive oversight on a weekly basis form the outer perimeter of checks and balances. Resources who are agile experienced and willing to pair up for DevQA and DevOps processes ensure that the full lifecycle of software development is smooth and successful. TurningPoint staff - the right people with a "can do" attitude and armed with a willingness to adopt lean and open technologies.

Right technologies and processes

• DSP 5: Budgets and contracts
• DSP 8: Modern tech stack
• DSP 10: Automation tools

The complexity of problem areas should not lead to a heavy, hard to maintain, vendor specific, and expensive technology stack. We believe that whether a problem is complex or not, there is always a way to embrace lean and open technology frameworks which are well supported through active forums, are platform neutral, non-proprietary and enthusiastically learnt by a huge developer community. The general motto is to "Default to open" when it comes to choosing a technology stack. Agile processes coupled with the right technology stack and engaging in a DevQA and DevOps mode of development is the right recipe for success.

The Agile driven digital service development methodology provides a clear and transparent view into the evolution of the product. In addition, TurningPoint makes it easy for Government Agency contracting officers to better report progress of a specific project or a program by being FAR & DCAA compliant, as well as providing timely EVM reports to make sure there are no cost overruns.

Host anywhere

• DSP 9: Flexible hosting

Our approach to designing and architecting solutions for digital services is to be as neutral to deployment environment as possible while still being cognizant of the effort needed to adapt to a particular hosting environment. Our DevOps model of Operations involves users constantly interacting with developers, which helps with preparing for challenges of optimizing for a specific type of environment. Our Development / Support engineers are equally savvy with on-premise and cloud infrastructure and can develop, manage, and maintain digital services. Our expertise in deployment automation helps immensely with any complex nature of deployments across different Operating systems and hosting environments.

Data Science

• DSP 11: Manage security and privacy
• DSP 12: Data driven decisions
• DSP 13: Default to open

TurningPoint recognizes that there are different types of data which are created as a by-product of offering digital services and that there are different ways of handling them. Data which belongs to end user needs to be protected from the prying eyes of the world but made available to the user themselves in a controlled but easily usable way. Data which can be aggregated to show patterns and behaviors to allow the agency (and the government by extension) to make data driven decisions should be made possible in a quick and effortless way. Finally, the data which sheds light on performance of programs, projects, resources, or the service itself should be made available to all stakeholders to analyze in order to improve performance.

Knowledge Base

The TurningPoint Knowledge Base (KB) is a web-based repository of templates and process deliverables designed to ensure consistent application of Agile practices across all Agile teams. With roles-based access to the knowledge base artifacts and templates tailored to a given project, the Agile teams can easily be established, scaled, and trained on “what” to do “when”, and the documentation to be created at every step of the process. All process or template changes are automatically propagated throughout the repository and appropriate stakeholders are notified of them.

DevSecOps Tools and Practices

CruiseControl uses a commercial grade tools, ready-to-use DevSecOps pipeline that empowers project teams with the power to deliver high quality code quickly. It is a fully automated solution in a pre-configured, containerized infrastructure enabled with source code management, and automated integration-testing, and deployment solutions.

With CruiseControl, our customer can easily integrate all Agile teams into the same workflow or customized process using preferred technologies/tools.

CruiseControl Project Dashboard

The CruiseControl provides extensive insights via the Project Dashboard. This highly customizable dashboard delivers real-time metrics from projects and teams level down to the individual levels.

The indicators let PMO team know how a project is performing. It contains historical metrics as well as the current snapshot of the project. Performance metrics such as Quality, Velocity, Technical Debt, Burn-down and Burn-up charts and Build Statuses – are continuously made available through various integrated tools enabling proactive risk mitigation as well as establishing high-performing teams

These dashboards are enabled for individual, Scrum Team, Agile Release Train (ART), Product, and Portfolio/Executive levels.