When the White House issued the Executive Order (EO) to prioritize commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software in contracts, we heard the call to action: invest in proven tools, streamline delivery, and minimize reinvention.
In an earlier post, we talked about how we build with COTS when it fits and with custom when it doesn’t—staying focused on the outcomes and the mission. Today, we’re sharing what it actually takes to make COTS platforms work in complex government environments. Since 2013, IronArch Technology has been helping agencies not only adopt COTS tools, but also implement them in ways that are sustainable, secure, cost-effective, and mission-aligned.
Our representative experience supporting the U.S. Army’s ServiceNow-based Army Enterprise Service Management Platform (AESMP) program as a subcontractor to SAIC, where we played a critical role in the platform’s architecture and development, is one real-world example of how we deliver successful COTS implementations at scale.
A Platform for a Million Users—and Then Some
The AESMP is one of the largest, most ambitious COTS implementations in government. It brings together more than 50 legacy systems, including disparate Remedy and ServiceNow instances, into one consolidated ServiceNow environment supporting over one million users globally.
AESMP doesn’t just handle IT ticketing. It now supports asset management, security operations, project and portfolio management, and a host of other workflows that touch every corner of Army operations—all on a single ServiceNow platform.
“We’ve onboarded every regional and local cyber center, the enterprise service desk, and millions of configuration items,” said Ashley Pressley, IronArch’s Lead Engineer on the program. “And we’ve done it while staying intentionally close to out of the box—that’s what keeps it manageable at this scale.”
One of the program’s more unique technical accomplishments is its simultaneous support for both a cloud-based (COTS/SaaS) instance in the NIPR environment and a self-hosted version in the SIPR environment. This dual-deployment model allows the Army to maintain mission continuity across classified and unclassified domains. According to Pressley, the team configured “one version which is in the cloud for the NIPR environment, and then a self-hosted version for the SIPR environment.” A single process keeps both environments aligned and in lockstep, ensuring that users experience consistency whether operating in a SCIF or not, providing a critical solution for today’s hybrid mission environments.
Configuring Smart, Not Customizing Blind
A common misstep in large COTS deployments is over-customization. When tools like ServiceNow are bent too far “out of the box”—or, from their native capabilities—upgrades become painful or even impossible, and the software stops delivering value.
IronArch helped support a different path on AESMP. Working with SAIC, we guided the ServiceNow configuration to meet Army needs while maintaining the integrity of the platform’s core functionality.
“We avoided making changes just because someone didn’t understand how the system worked,” Pressley explained. “In fact, a lot of what we’ve done is unwind unnecessary customizations from legacy implementations where the dev teams didn’t know what ServiceNow already offered out-of-the-box.”
This configuration-first approach means the Army can continue to receive vendor updates, security patches, and new features without breaking the system. Scoped apps and modular design strategies allowed the development team to build new functionality where the Army needed it, while insulating the rest of the platform from disruption.
“ServiceNow has matured significantly as a low-code platform,” said Pressley. “You can build custom apps in a way that doesn’t interfere with core functionality, and the platform provides excellent tools for managing changes during upgrades.”
Empowering Government Teams to Maximize COTS
The Army’s success with AESMP isn’t just because of the approach to architecture; it’s also attributable to an enablement mindset.
Many of the users onboarded to AESMP had experience with their own ServiceNow instances, which were often heavily customized and hard to maintain. Understandably, they were skeptical about moving to a centralized platform.
The AESMP program worked closely with government stakeholders and teams to help shift that perception through intentional engagement, hands-on training, and proof. Once they saw how we’d configured AESMP to meet their needs, and how it simplified their work, they began to embrace it.
“It wasn’t about forcing standardization. It was about showing that standardization could work for them,” said Pressley.
Meeting stakeholders where they are, listening to their concerns, and taking a hands-on approach to demonstrating alternatives is central to IronArch’s COTS implementation strategy.
“When agencies buy a COTS tool, they need a partner who can help them extract its value,” said Dan Miller, IronArch’s VP of Digital Services. “We’re that partner. We don’t just install software. We make it usable, scalable, and mission-aligned.”
A Model That Can Be Reused
Configure carefully. By using scoped applications, separate dev environments, and careful configuration management, IronArch ensures that changes remain traceable and testable.
This approach provides a foundation for reusability in future federal ServiceNow projects without adding technical debt.
What the IronArch Team Says About Supporting the EO’s Vision
The Executive Order calling for the prioritization of COTS solutions is also an ask to agencies to implement those solutions wisely—and an ask to contractors to support them with the expertise required to succeed. That’s where IronArch comes in, and here’s what our team has to say about it.
Megan Foley, VP of Delivery: “We don’t treat COTS implementation as a checkbox. We treat it as an opportunity to deliver results faster, reduce long-term costs, and position the government for ongoing success.”
Dan Miller, VP of Digital Services: “Our goal isn’t just to ‘get the tool running.’ It’s to make sure the tool serves the mission—today and two years from now. That means listening closely, configuring smartly, and leaving room to grow.”
Fahima Vakalia, VP of Growth: “Small businesses like ours are nimble and flexible enough to identify what the agency really needs and then set them on that path.”
Final Thoughts
The future of government IT is commercial—but that doesn’t mean it’s simple. Tools like ServiceNow are powerful, and they work best when paired with intentional planning, experienced engineers, and a mission-first mindset.
IronArch has proven that with the right approach, COTS can be cost-effective and transformative.
