Accelerating Government Missions Through Secure DevSecOps: How RGS and AlphaBravo are Transforming Federal IT

In today's rapidly evolving threat landscape, the United States Government and Department of Defense face unique challenges in balancing mission agility with stringent security requirements. As federal agencies embrace digital transformation, they require specialized solutions that address their distinct operational environments-from classified facilities to tactical edge deployments, and from disconnected operations to space-based systems. The emergence of DevSecOps as a methodology has created new possibilities for accelerating secure software delivery, but implementing these practices within government constraints requires purpose-built technologies and specialized expertise.

The Unique Challenges of Government IT Modernization

Government agencies operate under some of the most demanding security and compliance requirements in existence. From DISA Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) to NIST 800-53 controls and FedRAMP authorization processes, federal IT teams must navigate complex regulatory landscapes while still delivering mission capabilities at speed.

The challenge becomes even more pronounced when considering the prevalence of air-gapped networks, classified environments, and disconnected operations that characterize government and military systems. These disconnected, degraded, intermittent, and limited-bandwidth (DDIL) environments create significant hurdles for implementing modern DevSecOps practices that typically rely on connectivity to public repositories, continuous integration systems, and cloud resources.

As the DoD Enterprise DevSecOps Fundamentals document highlights, each organization must "tailor its culture and align DevSecOps practices to their own unique processes, products, security requirements, and mission needs". This is precisely where specialized solutions from companies like Rancher Government Solutions (RGS) and AlphaBravo have become critical enablers.

RGS: Securing the Foundation with Kubernetes

Rancher Government Solutions has emerged as a pivotal player in the federal IT landscape by providing the secure, hardened foundations necessary for government DevSecOps initiatives. As stated on their website, RGS "delivers the most secure, hardened distribution of the world's most popular Kubernetes platform exclusively for the U.S Government and military".

RKE2: A Kubernetes Distribution Built for Federal Requirements

At the core of RGS's offerings is RKE2 (Rancher Kubernetes Engine 2), a certified Kubernetes distribution explicitly engineered for federal government requirements. What sets RKE2 apart is its focus on security from the ground up. It comes FIPS-enabled, supports SELinux, and is the only DISA STIG certified Kubernetes distribution for the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and civilian agencies.

RKE2 requires no dependency on the Docker container runtime and includes a supported containerd runtime, eliminating vendor lock-in that might otherwise constrain government agencies. This degree of flexibility is crucial for federal organizations that need to maintain technological sovereignty while leveraging cutting-edge open-source capabilities.

The distribution is designed to pass the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark with minimal operator intervention, simplifying compliance processes that often consume significant resources in government IT teams. This focus on streamlined compliance helps federal agencies accelerate their Authority to Operate (ATO) processes-often a critical bottleneck in government technology deployments.

Harvester Government: Hardened HCI for Classified Environments

In October 2024, RGS launched Harvester Government, described as "the first fully compliant, out-of-the-box Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) solution tailored specifically for US Government and Military operations". This solution addresses a critical gap in the government IT ecosystem by providing pre-hardened infrastructure that meets stringent security requirements without requiring extensive post-deployment configuration.

Adam Toy, Chief Architect at RGS, explained the significance: "By delivering a solution that is compliant and hardened out-of-the-box, we are enabling government entities to deploy modern IT infrastructure quickly, securely, and with confidence". This approach dramatically accelerates the time-to-capability for government agencies that would otherwise spend months configuring and hardening standard commercial offerings.

Harvester Government leverages Rancher Government Carbide™ for enhanced supply chain security, providing digitally signed Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs), vulnerability assessments, and automated STIG compliance. These capabilities directly address government requirements for verifiable software provenance-a critical component of zero-trust architectures being adopted across federal agencies.

NeuVector: Zero-Trust Container Security

As containerized applications proliferate across government environments, securing them becomes increasingly critical. RGS offers NeuVector, "the only 100% open source, Zero Trust container security platform". This solution provides vulnerability and compliance scanning throughout the container lifecycle, removing security roadblocks while maintaining stringent protection.

NeuVector's unique run-time protection capabilities safeguard network connections within and across container environments with a Layer 7 container firewall. Additionally, it monitors process and file activity in containers and on hosts to prevent unauthorized activities. For government agencies deploying sensitive workloads, these capabilities provide the continuous monitoring and protection required for high-security environments.

Hauler: Bridging the Air Gap

Perhaps one of the most distinctive challenges in government IT is managing air-gapped environments-networks physically isolated from unsecured networks. In March 2024, RGS released Hauler, which "dramatically streamlines and simplifies the process of moving assets, artifacts, and applications across the airgap from unclassified to classified environments securely".

Brandon Gulla, VP and Chief Technology Officer at RGS, explained: "With Hauler, a lightweight tool that transforms the process, we enable our DDIL/airgap customers to accelerate their mission success regardless of the connectivity limitations of their environment". This directly addresses the "sneakernet" challenge that has traditionally required SCIF-dwelling engineers to manually create scripts for transferring software between security domains.

AlphaBravo: Orchestrating Secure Operations at Scale

While RGS provides the secure foundation, AlphaBravo complements these capabilities with its ABOps platform-a deployment and orchestration solution designed specifically for government operations. AlphaBravo positions ABOps as "the future of secure, compliant, and scalable application deployments for government and defense operations".

ABOps: DevSecOps for Government Missions

ABOps is a powerful platform that streamlines the management of Kubernetes clusters, applications, and configurations across diverse environments. It's specifically designed to handle low-bandwidth deployments in edge environments, air-gapped networks requiring offline provisioning, and continuous compliance with frameworks like DISA STIGs and Zero Trust Architecture.

A key strength of ABOps is its integration with secure container images, including those from Chainguard, ensuring software supply chain security. These images are minimal and hardened to reduce the attack surface, signed and verified to ensure integrity, and continuously updated to maintain compliance.

Compliance-Driven Automation

One of AlphaBravo's most significant contributions to government IT is in the area of compliance automation. As described in their blog, ABOps "integrates controls directly into its deployment pipelines, enabling organizations to enforce compliance from development through production. With pre-built templates and automated scans, ABOps streamlines STIG validation, reducing time-to-compliance and simplifying Authority to Operate (ATO) approvals".

This approach revolutionizes how government agencies handle compliance, transforming it from a periodic, manual assessment process to a continuous, automated verification integrated throughout the development lifecycle. For agencies operating under FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, or other frameworks, ABOps provides similar capabilities, mapping security configurations to these guidelines and automating vulnerability scans and compliance checks.

Supporting Disconnected and Air-Gapped Operations

AlphaBravo recognizes that government operations often take place in disconnected environments. ABOps addresses this challenge by creating and distributing immutable release bundles that maintain security and compliance without requiring external connectivity.

This capability is particularly valuable for tactical edge deployments, afloat systems, and classified environments where connectivity is limited or non-existent. As AlphaBravo explains, their approach helps agencies "reduce time to deploy, enhance resource utilization, and improve team productivity" even in the most challenging operational environments.

Future-Proofing Government IT

A notable aspect of AlphaBravo's approach is its focus on future-proofing government technology investments. Their multi-Kubernetes management platform ensures agencies can adopt new innovations like Rancher, Red Hat OpenShift, or VMware Tanzu, while securely migrating from legacy systems without disrupting operations.

This flexibility is crucial in government environments where technology transitions must be managed carefully to maintain mission continuity and security posture. By supporting multiple Kubernetes distributions and providing migration pathways, AlphaBravo helps agencies avoid vendor lock-in and preserve their freedom to adopt the best solutions for their specific needs.

Real-World Impact: Transforming Government Operations

The technologies from RGS and AlphaBravo are not merely theoretical-they're driving tangible mission outcomes across government and defense organizations.

First In-Flight Kubernetes Upgrade

One remarkable example is RGS's work with the U-2 program. The "pioneering work performed by RGS engineers and its partners on the U-2 project advanced Kubernetes use in military aircraft. It has had a broader impact across the USAF and DOD as they collectively build their edge computing ecosystem". This accomplishment demonstrates how these specialized technologies can extend modern DevSecOps practices to previously unimaginable environments, creating new operational capabilities for military systems.

Platform One Integration

Both RGS and AlphaBravo have contributed to Platform One, the DoD's enterprise DevSecOps initiative. RGS proudly notes that they have "been part of the Platform One DSOP team since its inception, helping stand up and evolve the shared services platform by providing DevSecOps services, and technical expertise in Kubernetes, cybersecurity, and operations".

Platform One represents a security-first approach to developing software for military weapons systems, following industry best practices while allowing DoD organizations to manage DevSecOps internally. The contributions of companies like RGS and AlphaBravo have been instrumental in making this vision a reality.

Advancing Space-Based Computing

The frontier of government operations extends beyond Earth's atmosphere, and both companies are supporting this domain as well. RGS has worked with Hypergiant and Platform One "to demonstrate the benefits of DevSecOps, Kubernetes, and AI/ML applications at the edge, revolutionizing the satellite industry, and building longevity and sustainability into satellite fleets". This work exemplifies how specialized DevSecOps technologies can enable entirely new operational capabilities in the most challenging environments.

Building Capability Through Training and Knowledge Transfer

Technology alone cannot transform government operations-people and processes are equally important. AlphaBravo addresses this through comprehensive training programs designed specifically for government IT teams.

Their ABLabs provides hands-on container and Kubernetes training, with specialized tracks for different skill levels. The Container Bootcamp covers Docker fundamentals, while Kubernetes training ranges from basic operations to advanced topics such as Infrastructure as Code, multi-cluster operations, and Kubernetes security.

As Chad Serino of AlphaBravo notes, "We believe that investing in training not only benefits individuals but also delivers tangible results for businesses, enabling them to stay competitive in a dynamic marketplace". This philosophy is particularly relevant for government agencies seeking to build internal DevSecOps capabilities while leveraging external expertise.

The Path Forward for Government DevSecOps

As government agencies continue to modernize their IT operations, several trends are emerging that will shape the future of DevSecOps in federal environments.

Zero Trust Architecture as Standard

Both RGS and AlphaBravo emphasize zero trust principles in their offerings, reflecting the government's shift toward this security model. RGS describes their approach as "Secure by Design for Government is our Default," integrating security at every level of the product development lifecycle. Similarly, AlphaBravo highlights their "Security-First Design" with immutable infrastructure and pre-hardened containers that reduce vulnerabilities and configuration drift.

This alignment with zero trust principles positions agencies to implement the security architectures mandated by recent executive orders and cybersecurity directives.

Software Supply Chain Security

Recent cybersecurity incidents have highlighted the importance of securing the software supply chain, and both companies offer solutions in this area. RGS's Rancher Government Carbide provides digitally signed SBOMs and vulnerability assessments, while AlphaBravo emphasizes "SBOM Transparency" to generate auditable, tamper-proof records for software supply chain security.

These capabilities help government agencies address the requirements outlined in Executive Order 14028 on improving the nation's cybersecurity, particularly around software supply chain transparency and integrity.

Multi-Environment Deployments

As government missions increasingly span multiple operational domains-from classified facilities to tactical edge, space, and maritime environments-DevSecOps platforms must support this diversity. Both RGS and AlphaBravo are positioned to enable this through their support for air-gapped networks, low-bandwidth operations, and hybrid deployments.

AlphaBravo's multi-cloud and air-gapped support simplifies operations across AWS, Azure, GCP, and disconnected environments, while RGS's technologies like Hauler bridge the gap between different security domains.

The Future Is Open and Secure

Looking ahead, the combination of open-source innovation and government-grade security represented by RGS and AlphaBravo will continue to transform federal IT. As RGS notes, their approach helps agencies "modernize IT infrastructure while preserving existing investments by leveraging new technologies without vendor lock-in or hardware limitations".

This balance of innovation and security is the key to accelerating government missions while maintaining the highest standards of protection for sensitive systems and data. By providing specialized technologies, expertise, and training focused on the unique needs of government environments, RGS and AlphaBravo are enabling a new generation of digital capabilities that will power government operations for years to come.

The journey toward secure, agile government IT is ongoing, but with purpose-built technologies and specialized expertise from companies like RGS and AlphaBravo, federal agencies are well-positioned to meet both current and future mission demands-securely, efficiently, and at the speed that modern operations require.

Contact Rancher Government for more information: https://ranchergovernment.com
Contact AlphaBravo for more information: https://alphabravo.io