• SNAP Redesign for Bureau of Industry and Security

The Simplified Network Application Processing (SNAP) system was used by thousands of exporting companies to submit online license applications for dual-use item exports to BIS. The legacy SNAP had many issues related to system security, data integrity and usability; it was on OMB’s watch list for incompliance. Knowcean was engaged and deployed a strong technical team to implement SNAP Redesign (SNAP-R) from requirement definitions, system design, and application development, to testing and deployment. Within 18 months, the Knowcean team completed the entire implementation that encompasses the following technology disciplines: N-Tier J2EE platform; Redundant web application and database (Oracle) systems; Network security; System Security; and Application Security. The SNAP-R system successfully passed Certification & Accreditation (C&A) and Security Testing & Evaluation (ST&E), it also is fully in compliance with section 508 requirements. The deployed SNAP-R system was well received by the exporting community, other federal agencies (SNAP-R system brought the capability for CIA, NSA, DoD, DoE, FBI and various DHS agencies to access it), BIS executive team, and DoC management. Recently BIS mandated SNAP-R for license application submissions in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

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• IMS Redesign for the Bureau of Industry and Security

The Investigative Management System (IMS) is the mission critical system for BIS Export Enforcement to track its investigations and proactive compliance related activities. Agents (part of federal law enforcement within BIS) and Analysts (similar to intelligence unit at FBI and CIA) across the country are relying on IMS to perform their job: to deter export violations and prevent sensitive technology from ending up in the wrong hands. Unfortunately, the legacy IMS was running on an outdated technology platform and was hindering BIS Agents and Analysts’ productivity. As the prime contractor for the IMS Redesign (IMS-R), Knowcean was engaged in the full life cycle of the project. With the client experience acquired from implementing SNAP-R, Knowcean’s team was able to greatly expedite the redesign process. In less than 12 months, the Knowcean team completed requirements definition, system design and has delivered a fully functional application into a production environment. The new IMS-R system resembles FBI’s Sentinel system in many ways (with a much smaller budget - less than one percent of Sentinel's) and incorporated work flow management, role based access control, a rule based business process engine and effective security measures.

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• ECASS Redesign for the Bureau of Industry and Security

Knowcean was retained by BIS to be the primary contractor in its Export Control Automated Support System (ECASS) Redesign initiative. BIS oversees export control that is an integral part of national security and the ECASS redesign requires integration with systems across the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of State (DoS), Department of Justice (DoJ), Department of Energy (DoE), National Security Agency (NSA), and the Central Intelligent Agency (CIA). This high profile initiative requires a strong technical ability in the areas of IT Security, Federal Enterprise Architecture, Network and Database management, along with Data Sharing with discretional access control. Knowcean was selected for its demonstrated strong expertise in the above technical areas and its quality of service provided.

• Compartmentalized Application Infrastructure (CAI) for the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)

Knowcean is the key technical resource in the design and implementation of BIS's Compartmentalized Application Infrastructure (CAI). CAI provides BIS with a secure environment for critical and sensitive export control applications. CAI consists of multiple layers of security measures including Firewall clusters, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), Network Admission Control (NAC), Secure Proxy, and gateways for information exchange between different systems.

• Enterprise Security Infrastructure (ESI) for Smithsonian Institution (SI)

Knowcean performed every phase of the full Life Cycle Management (LCM) process for the Smithsonian Institution’s ESI project. It included requirement specification, high level architecture, detailed design, implementation, and the production handoff to operations staff. Knowcean designed and implemented fully distributed Checkpoint Firewall clusters with a centralized/highly-available management center, Cisco Intrusion Detection/Protection Systems, Websense, Bluecoat Secure Proxy, Foundstone Vulnerability Assessment Infrastructure, and IPSec VPN gateways. ESI allows SI to protect its enterprise resources from outside intrusion. It ensures all communications between the internal network and trusted users on the Internet are effectively protected. ESI’s perimeter defense is also distributed in multiple locations including the Smithsonian Tropical Resource Institute (STRI) in Panama. ESI also provides a comprehensive logging and auditing capability for troubleshooting and forensic analysis.

• Networking Engineering for Smithsonian Institution’s Data Center Relocation

Knowcean provided networking engineering services for the Smithsonian Institution’s data center relocation from the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to Herndon, Virginia. The design enabled the system relocation to proceed in a gradual and non-disruptive way. Knowcean’s design effectively extended the entire datacenter network and security infrastructure from one location to the other. This allowed all the servers and applications to be migrated and traffic to be redirect on a phased approach to minimize production impact.

• Network Server Consolidation and Migration for the Smithsonian Institution

Knowcean has been contracted by the Smithsonian Institution to be the technical lead for the Network Office Automation Server Consolidation (NOASC) Project. Knowcean followed the Smithsonian's Life Cycle Management process, provided requirements collection, enterprise architecture design, detailed engineering design, system development, testing and implementation in an effort to consolidate all File/Print and Email servers from the museums and research centers. Phase one of the project migrated all types of file, print and email services originally based on Novell/Groupwise, IBM Lotus Notes, and Mac and Unix to servers centrally managed by the Smithsonian OCIO (Office of the Chief Information Officer) with an enterprise Storage Area Network (SAN) and backup solutions. The second phase was to migrate all of the current Novell based File/Print services as well Groupwise email services to Microsoft AD2003 based File/Print and Exchange2003 email system. The design and implementation includes EMC Storage Area Network, and the related network and backup solutions. The final system setup for production includes more than 60 servers with advanced features such as clustering, SAN and a tape library.

• Migration to Active Directory and Exchange (MADE) for the Smithsonian

Knowcean was the key technical resource for Smithsonian’s Migration to Active Directory and Exchange (MADE) project. The project migrated all Smithsonian users (about 7,000) from Novell file and print services and Groupwise email services, to Microsoft Active Directory based services and Exchange email services. Knowcean’s engineers designed, tested, and implemented the whole Active Directory structure, Exchange clusters, and SAN storage for the file servers and email severs. Our technical resources were also the back end engineering resources for the whole migration process.

• Smithsonian’s Secure Wireless Infrastructure

Knowcean is providing requirement specifications, lab testing, network high-level and detailed designs, and production implementation for the Smithsonian’s Secure Wireless Infrastructure. The infrastructure covers multiple Smithsonian museums and business units. It supports both internal staff and external visitor access to the wireless network, as well as access for several retail networks.