Millitary software developers

This is the prototype that you can put in the hands of a user to begin iterative refinement of design and functionality. In the context of Kessel Run, both the organization and its products leveraged this model: start small, refine, and scale. Looking at the organization, instead of establishing a three-thousand-airman software wing, the program began with a very small team, demonstrated effectiveness, and has now grown based on proof of concept.

This means that the organization contains only the people and resources needed for existing problems and that new teams and processes are created to address needs. Although this approach is initially crude, the refinement process improves quality while minimizing organizational fluff.

This organic growth process differs from a top-down innovation approach that must simultaneously overcome administrative delays, organizational politics, and complex stakeholder management while generating innovative solutions. The common consequence of so many competing demands are organizations that compete for budget and relevance, hiding behind grandiose vision statements, while frontline members struggle to understand their roles.

Instead of giving orders, Col. He was able to escalate issues and advocate for resources. Selecting leaders based on openness to this inverted organizational chart will be crucial for other services to duplicate this success.

At the heart of the Kessel Run origin story is a clear tactical problem that needed solving—the first of many. Across the acquisition spectrum, contractors have struggled to deliver useable products on time. A common refrain is that the military keeps moving the goal posts as requirements change while the product is in a development pipeline or a year or longer.

Instead, the term refers to a development methodology that uses direct customer feedback to drive development through sprints lasting one to four weeks. After building an MVP, each of these sprints provides value to customers by releasing new code and building the next development iteration around emerging customer needs.

In a military context, agile development has two unique challenges: the users are frequently deployed and their feedback requires understanding a workflow that lacks a civilian equivalent. Military software developers can work alongside warfighters more easily than contractors, which ensures that resources are spent solving the right problems.

Moreover, servicemembers serving as developers can create software that reflects a more nuanced understanding of the use cases and technology interdependencies. Agile development differs from traditional acquisition approaches since constant feedback loops decrease risk of making the wrong product and the approach focuses on creating immediate customer value.

Agile development avoids this problem. In broader economic terms, this is a classic make-or-buy problem. In-sourcing software development also protects against disruptions from civilian contractors. In an extreme example, Google declined to renew its Project Maven contract after employee backlash surrounding the Department of Defense drone project. One of the most effective strategies for mitigating these market sensitivities are upskilling campaigns using internal personnel.

At one time, basic electronics were a subject for research labs, but the services now have electricians and even nuclear technicians.

As the military masters this training process, they can create a pipeline for internal software developers for active-duty or reserve personnel. This value proposition expands further if leaders use this as a nexus for leveraging teams of reservists that combine private-sector technology talent to challenges active-duty military personnel currently cannot solve.

Lesson 3: Using organic talent provides asymmetric advantages that contractors cannot replicate. There is another benefit from integrated software developers that is difficult to quantify. In practice, the time and effort to manage these contracts is overwhelming and instead units punt solving the problem and leave it to frontline workers to overcome.

At scale, these decisions accumulate to a massive waste of time and effort. Worse, this creates a culture of mediocrity that accepts the status quo. At the enterprise level, building software capabilities around tactical problem statements ensures institutional investments are matched against warfighter needs.

It also creates an organic discovery process that identifies the next relevant domain for growth and budget allocations, a more agile approach than the waterfall method used to guide current development strategies. While Kessel Run partnered with Pivotal Labs for training to get off the ground, using military personnel offers several critical advantages.

First, doing so helps to develop products too small for current contracting systems. At present, servicemembers must overcome these technical problems with laborious and often inaccurate work streams, wasting time and money.

Second, utilizing military personnel accelerates code delivery. Even if a contractor is available, the project is well understood, and developers have the relevant context to solve problems, success is uncertain and can take months to deploy solutions. What does the future hold for you at 4C? What would you say to somebody looking for a new challenge in military software development? Military Exonaut Solutions 4C Strategies provides military clients with a broad range of tailored solutions designed to manage complex exercises, enable capability development, and enhance readiness across the organisation.

Get in contact. News and Insights. Exonaut Risk Manager product owner, Vedrana Zeba on the importance of contributing to a safer society, why developers should join her new team and why she took up painting.

See more news. Your message has been received. We will get back to you as soon as possible. The resource will be sent to the given email address. You are welcome to contact us with any question you may have.

Download pack. Choose size. Book a demo. Get in touch. Sep 8, The services say in-house coders allow them to be more flexible during missions, rather than relying solely on contractor support to build cyber tools. Air National Guard. About Mark Pomerleau. More In Cyber. In change, Army to allow file downloads for Army email on personal devices Users should see changes take effect "in the next few days," said the Army's top IT official.

Online survey finds hacking to be the number one concern of government IT workers Public sector survey respondents no longer believe insiders are the greatest threat. Inflation is the silent cyberthreat jeopardizing our workforce The inflation expectations in are the highest in decades, which will directly impact the cost to attract and retain a cyber workforce.

New US Army cyber unit is building concepts for tactical cyber operations The Army is working to build its new cyber battalion while testing out new concepts and training in the process. US Air Force cyber team demonstrates first ever in-flight mission Air Force defensive cyber teams will now be able to conduct cyber missions aboard MCJs in flight.

Featured Video. Zero trust: defense from within. Cyber leaders' methods evolve for a new era.