DevOp Methodology

OVERVIEW

401(k) Connect to Protect Inc. (401kCP) Agile DevOp methodology is operated using Microsoft’s GitHub to manage the processes by Issues, tracking feature design ideas, bugs, source code control, documentation, code review, continuous integration, and deployment through the live Production environment.

GitHub is a source control system proven to reliably track code changes, long-term. 401kCP operates by maintaining a main branch that is considered to be stable and reliable. New code changes are by way of temporary sandbox branch and only merged to the main branch when quality is assured. This is primarily through code review by Hacker One and Co-Pilot. Extensive Agile testing is documented in Issues and performed in the Development environment, using two fake data tenant companies and one parent before release to the Production environment.

Software as a Service Development Progression

401kCP views software changes as occurring in phases:

1)  Track: for the Issue describing the work to be completed 401kCP has two structured templates:

Features:

a) What is the problem this feature request will address?

b) What is a preferred solution?

c) What are alternative solutions?

d) What additional context is important?

e) What database changes are relevant to this requirement, if any?

f) What tests must be performed to ensure this feature is working as designed?

Bugs:

a) Steps to Reproduce

b) Results

c) Expected

d) Actual

e) Regression

f) Notes

2)  Design: Issue steps are drafted in plain language in the GitHub Issue text comment fields structured as above or blank for quick simple changes. External files attached to same such as Excel workbooks are used extensively. These are used to show the User Interface, data needs, and functional logic. Videos are sometimes used to show screen activity with narratives.  Many changes are quick and simple; others involve highly detailed explanations.

Issues are continuously being designed and communicated by all team members, prioritized by founder, COO, and developer Neil Della Torre. Workflow is then communicated to the programmers now with high specificity, creating effectiveness and efficiency. The Kanban dashboard is used extensively for this purpose.

Another key design reference is the legacy software being replaced by the SaaS. Built in Microsoft Access the legacy software has been highly effective, enabling rapid audit capacity expansion for four 401(k) audit seasons. It is single user and requires a server.

Frequent scrum meetings led by Neil Della Torre and with Michael Haines, legacy programmer and database manager, and TechnoMark’s programmer engineers  lead by Vijay Chauhan. The meetings are recorded in Microsoft’s Teams Meeting videos to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the Issues and across all key team members.

This has been proven to be highly efficient and effective in progressing the Agile way over the past 18 months. There are over 1,000 Issues and progress continuously accelerates. A key 401kCP program feature named Document Management System (DMS), the first Minimally Valuable Program / Product (MVP) has proven successful results during the recently ended 2024 401(k) audit season.

3)  Implement: 401kCP software engineers code in a sandbox GitHub branch to preliminarily implement the upgrades, changes. Sandbox branches are deployed to the Development Environment for manual testing by users with expertise in 401(k) auditing and fiduciary responsibilities. There are two tenants SaaS user’s setup with fake user identification and fake data: Test Company 1 and Test Company 1. And there is also an interacting parent test user 401kCP. The testing activity occurs in the Development Environment. (There is a Staging Environment, but data has not been used. Development has been deployed to Production, skipping Staging.)

4)  Review: Pull requests are then scheduled in GitHub by Issue. Hacker One performs the independent code review. A GitHub Actions workflow automatically performs checks on the pull request. In parallel, the pull requests are assigned to a qualified person for code review.

5)  QA: Code changes from a sandbox branch are typically deployed to the Development environment for manual QA testing. Users follow the test setup initially in the Issue. Test design is an integral component of the GitHub Agile methodology and quality control policy.

6)  Pre-deployment configuration: During such reviews, changes needed to the deployed environment are identified and rectified prior to merging, when practicable.

7)  Merge: When the design and code changes are determined to be acceptable quality, two independent, qualified 401kCP are required to approve with secure logins, then the code changes from the Development to Production environment.

8)  Deploy: Once changes are merged into the main branch, they are deployed automatically to the Development environment via a GitHub Actions workflow. After the Development environment is validated, a GitHub Actions workflow can be manually triggered to deploy to the live Production Environment with the dual authorization.

9)  Monitor: After changes are deployed, top rated monitoring tool are employed, as well as extensive 401kCP persons familiar with the SaaS issue and related system and user functionality, to verify no unexpected errors are detected.

10)  The SaaS program has been extensively and successfully used by BDG-CPAs for three audit seasons and is proven based on such results. This has promoted scaling the 40k(k) audit practice.

401kCP’s positive psychology research, performed by Carter Jernigan, UPenn and MIT, and DevOp designer, has established that regular daily progress is one of the most important ways to stay motivated¹. To achieve this, 401kCP has implemented strategies, accordingly:

1. T-shirt-sizing: During the track/design phase, scope work as small (up to a day), medium (up to a week), or large (up to a month). Break mediums and larges down into sub-tasks until only smalls remain. These sizes are recorded in each Git issue.
2. Prioritization: Force rank the small tasks into priority order. See Task Backlog below.
3. Scrum:  meetings with founder Neil Della Torre and legacy program creator Michael Haines and the programming team are held on average 2.5 times a week, and all hands meeting once a week.
4. Code to Production: monitor the cadence of new software code going to Production.

401kCP uses the Kanban board in a GitHub Project to capture ideas and then prioritize issues, leading to continuous SaaS Production upgrades. Accordingly, the Kanban board has columns for:

• Triage, where all ideas are initially captured and evaluated.
• Epic Backlog, typically a major enhancement or program direction that, depending on viability, is then broken down and built by component issues.
• Task Backlog, where issues are queued up in priority order, for what’s next.
• Code Implementation, issue ideas are digitized to serve the SaaS users on a continuously improving, valuable added basis.
• Code Review, QA, and Staging columns are check points to ensure quality.
• Production is the final step, issue goes live.