Client Success Story:
Douglas County's Information Technology's (IT) Team Transformation with DevIQ
Faced with a suite of legacy applications built on older technology and a low-code platform, Douglas County's Information Technology (IT) team needed to update both their technology and processes. Several of their applications, including Sales Tax, were built on a low-code platform. Internal initiatives aimed at improving control over these applications and reducing third-party licensing costs led Douglas County IT to seek external expertise with two primary objectives: first, to replace the existing Sales Tax application with a modern, secure, Azure cloud-based solution; and second, to establish a predictable Agile process for delivering custom applications.
The challenge was that the Douglas County IT team, though composed of seasoned professionals with deep subject matter expertise, had limited experience in managing and building cloud-native applications. This is where DevIQ came in.
DevIQ collaborated with Douglas County IT to implement our Center of Excellence (CoE) blueprint that encompasses project management, development, and QA processes, ensuring predictable delivery throughout the software development life cycle.
- We began with the Inception phase to define the detailed scope, architecture, and cost.
- This was followed by the Construction phase, where implementation, validation, and deployment activities were managed using Agile methodologies. Estimates were based on a well-defined backlog of requirements, architecture was documented and subject to board approval, and system validation ensured the deliverables met expectations.
- Accountability and transparency were maintained through Azure DevOps, which provided weekly project and budget progress reports.
While DevIQ could operate our CoE blueprint autonomously, we integrated the Douglas County IT team, equipping them with the processes needed to drive future projects. We also leveraged our proven Azure-native application accelerators and robust Azure PaaS services to ensure predictable, standardized, and cost-effective delivery.
Following the successful delivery of the Sales Tax project, Douglas County IT immediately moved on to the next project: the CBOE application modernization. The CBOE application, originally built on legacy, on-premises Java technology, was modernized using the processes and technology developed during the Sales Tax project. Douglas County IT took on a pairing role with the DevIQ team to further develop their delivery expertise.
Both the Sales Tax and CBOE applications were delivered on time and within budget, receiving glowing customer reviews. Importantly, Douglas County IT achieved its primary objective of building a modern cloud application/platform and a process for delivering custom applications.
Final Note: The team at Douglas County IT is at the center of this success. They are thoughtful, collaborative, open to suggestions, and bring great vision and execution to the process. DevIQ takes pride in seeing their team achieve their goals. The relationship between DevIQ and Douglas County IT is a true partnership!
Eric Brown, Microsoft/Azure Practice Lead
DevIQ, October 2024