SEAL: A generalized framework for deploying a secure application lifecycle management process with CI/CD

EP Analytics proposes to develop and commercialize the SEAL (for Secure Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)) framework that consists of software development, testing, quality and security assurance guidelines, and a toolkit of proprietary and third-party software. The framework enables transitioning of legacy codes to a modern ALM framework and develop and deploy modern and modular Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines supported through a collaborative software development platform (such as GitLab). The foundation of the SEAL framework has evolved from years of experience in software modernization and performance analysis of large complex HPC applications. Legacy codes come with unique dependencies, requirements, and complexities that can pose hurdles during the modernization process. These hurdles may be caused by technical (e.g., breaking changes during technology stack upgrade) or social (e.g., reluctance to rapid technical changes by key personnel) factors. Cognizant of these factors, a key design goal of the SEAL framework is to be extensible, technology agnostic, and incremental. SEAL will also treat performance analysis as a first-class citizen within the ALM process. This will be accomplished by analyzing the performance of tests as the codes evolve and notifying the developers of any performance degradations.