Wyle Information Systems uses modern Test-Driven Development (TDD) methodologies to develop and support data analysis software for a variety of satellite-based observatories at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) on the Space and Earth Sciences Data Analysis (SESDA) II contract. This includes Xspec, the de-facto industry standard software used by Astrophysicists to analyze data from multiple missions. Xspec utilizes design patterns and object-oriented design techniques to leverage cutting-edge statistical tools for analyzing both legacy and current mission data.
At Job Corps, Wyle Information Systems followed the Agile Software Development process to deliver high quality products. With the shorter iterations and incremental release plans inherent to this methodology, new features and bug fixes were quickly deployed to the customer. Staff rapidly responded to new or changing requirements and incorporated user feedback more quickly than with previous traditional processes. Wyle also designed, developed, and deployed the CDSS Suite of Applications, the Job Corps’ first standard, fully integrated, on-line information management system. The CDSS was a collection of Web-based and n-tier client-server based applications running on Job Corps’ central databases and network, used daily by more than 20,000 Job Corps staff and DOL officials nationwide. Wyle professionals supported consolidation of all Job Corps databases to a single Sybase relational Database Management System (DBMS) and implemented a formal Quality Assurance team to test and document results from all Job Corps computer applications.
Wyle supported the conversion of the CDSS Suite of Applications database from Informix to Sybase. This conversion resulted in an approximately $200,000 annual software maintenance savings and improved performance and functionality for the Job Corps customer base. Also supported was the conversion of the SPAMIS system from an Informix 4-GL code base and Informix database backend to a Java code base and Sybase database backend. This effort resulted in an additional cost savings of approximately $40,000 per year and facilitated the consolidation of all Job Corps databases to a single Sybase relational database management system (RDBMS). Wyle’s database administration team supported the production databases and business applications software development toolset for mainframe, web and client/server application platforms.
The Wyle Job Corps software team developed and maintained a suite of approximately 20 mission critical Web-based and n-tier client-server based applications running on Job Corps’ central databases and network. The team used leading edge technologies from Microsoft (ASP.NET, Visual Studio.NET, and Windows Servers), Sybase (PowerBuilder, EAServer, Sybase ASE, and Sybase IQ), Sun Microsystems (Java), and others to develop and support a full suite of applications for the Job Corps community.