Achieving "best-in-class" performance is more than a catchphrase. In a period of declining resources, improving the efficiency of the processes we use to generate and sustain Army forces is a moral imperative. Every dollar we save through improving process performance is a dollar available to address Army priorities--particularly readiness. With this in mind, I am not going to use the short space I have here to tell you about the Office of Business Transformation or give you the definition of what business transformation is. Instead, I want to tell you about what committed Army leaders have done and are doing to improve Army business operations and highlight several areas where we can focus future energies to sustain our momentum toward truly being best-in-class in the execution of our Title 10 business processes by providing our units and Soldiers the resources they need to meet significant challenges today and tomorrow.

At this point, some of you may have the urge to stop reading believing that the Army is not a business--that we do not focus on profit or bottom line and cannot go bankrupt. Viewed from this narrow perspective, you would be right. The Army's ultimate success is not measured in profit or loss, but rather in its forces' ability to win in armed conflict on land. But I'm certain you'd agree that while absolutely not a business, in order to deliver the necessary ready land forces to combatant commanders, the Army must in many cases employ sound business-like practices. The Army is a $122 billion per year operation and it would rank 14th on the Fortune 500 list if that funding was revenue. The overwhelming majority of these resources are spent in accomplishing the eleven key Army business functions specified in Title 10 U.S. Code including recruiting, organizing, training, mobilizing and supplying. For these key functions, the Army must ensure we get the best value and effectiveness from every dollar we are provided.

There are pockets of the Army, including Army Materiel Command, the Army Medical Command, Morale Welfare and Recreation Activities, and construction activities in the Corps of Engineers whose operations on based largely on business-like models and by necessity have adapted and become more efficient and are closely in tune with their costs and process performance. There are also many examples of Army leaders, Soldiers and DA Civilians making a difference in the performance of other Army Title 10 business processes. The following three examples highlight where committed Army leaders have or are taking action to drive better performance and process efficiency across our Army enterprise: the development and fielding of the Army's Federated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, the transformation in the operation of Arlington National Cemetery, and the reduction of the Army's Integrated Disability Evaluation System population.

THE ARMY'S FEDERATED ERP SYSTEMS

Enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) are software for business management that enable and support integrated performance of core business processes. The Army's Federated ERP systems--General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS), Global Combat Support System-Army (GCSS-A), Logistics Modernization Program (LMP) and the Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army (IPPS-A)--are driving unprecedented process performance improvements and are serving as a powerful engine for continuing business process reengineering across the Army enterprise. Each of these web-based, enterprise-wide, state-of-the-art systems supports specific lines of business while enhancing overall enterprise performance, assessment, and accountability. Our federated strategy has three components serving as connective threads between and among the ERPS: business processes, data (particularly financial), and Army force structure. We are already reaping great benefits from these systems and our strategy, as we go forward, it will require the concerted effort of Army leaders to ensure the strategy remains on track and that adjustments are made as necessary.

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

In response to the findings of the 2010 Army's Inspector General Report of Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), the Secretary of the Army directed a range of needed reforms. In less than two years, new management transformed ANC's business operations and improved support to thousands of grieving families. By developing a campaign plan with strategic goals and objectives, optimizing business processes, and designing information technology to support those processes, ANC became the first national cemetery to manage operations digitally using the geospatial information system; launching an application which enables finding a gravesite or learning the history of the cemetery over the internet and on a mobile smart phone, and harnessing the power of GFEBS to conduct financial asset and accounting management. Today, as a result, ANC is recognized as one of the nation's centers of excellence for cemetery management -- they are not resting on their laurels, but continue to implement improvements.

REDUCING THE IDES POPULATION

In early 2007, VA and DoD partnered to develop a modified, Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) and an IDES Pilot was launched in November 2007. This new, joint process was designed to eliminate the duplicative, time-consuming, and often confusing elements of the separate disability processes within VA and DoD. The IDES features a single set of disability medical examinations appropriate for fitness determination by the Military Departments and a single set of disability ratings provided by VA for appropriate use by both departments.

The Army is now improving the process through the implementation of the IDES Commander's Dashboard. The dashboard provides visibility on individual Soldier progress in IDES and allows commanders to assist Soldiers in meeting IDES milestones. This provides Soldiers with an estimate of when they will transition from the Army as well as improved unit end-strength monitoring.

Today the IDES process met and continues to meet timeliness goals. Since the beginning of FY 2014, the Army has processed more than 51,801 cases through IDES. Of the completed cases, 2% returned to duty; 47% were Permanently Retired, 29% were separated, and 22% were placed on the Temporary Disability Retired List. This effectively returns the equivalent of 2 divisions worth of available manpower back to the Army.

The above described actions are great examples of what can be done to improve our processes when leaders become involved. There are literally thousands more opportunities to make similar improvements, right under our feet. To continuously drive performance and process improvements across our Army enterprise, we must create and employ a new operating framework--a framework that will succeed only with the sustained and complete support of our leaders and the unfailing support of every member of our great Army enterprise. First we must deliberately change our Army culture, which undervalues the management of resources. Second, we must better understand our business processes and associated costs--how and where do we spend the money we are provided, and fix responsibility for the efficient operation of all Title 10 operations. Once these costs and processes are defined, we must set clear goals in our strategic plans and establish financially-based performance objectives that pull us to our goals and relentlessly and honestly measure ourselves against them. Finally, we must continuously adapt our organizational structures to ensure we are optimized and weighting our main efforts.

It has been stated that culture is the hardest thing to change, but change it must. In the Army our culture has traditionally not ascribed great value on the function of managing resources--a job best left to resource managers or "bean-counters" as we often disdainfully refer to them. Yet money, and how we spend it, is perhaps the key enabler of how many squads, teams, and platoons we can make ready and merits all of our attention. Leaders must capitalize on every opportunity to reward those who do a good job of saving the Army resources and extol the importance of stewardship. Our new Army ethic recognizes the importance of stewardship.

Next, we must better define and cost our key processes. With some exceptions, we don't completely understand our own processes or our fully burdened costs. In the Army, most would agree that our core process is the preparation of combat-ready units. Yet as an Army, we are often hard-pressed to describe the complete process involved in producing readiness, nor able to express the total burdened cost. This is particularly topical as our leaders attempt to secure additional funding to improve readiness. Readiness for example is a shared responsibility among many. But for each of our main business processes, there must be a single empowered advocate who understands the entirely of the function and can see and influence all the associated costs. Only once we have that responsibility affixed can we drive efficiencies to improve performance.

We have all heard the saying "units do those things well that the commander checks." Unfortunately, we often don't take the time to set up a system to measure our performance in relation to our desired outcomes and the money we are provided. Measuring performance starts with a good strategy which describes where the organization wants to go in executable terms. Once developed, strategies are translated into supporting objectives and metrics. Successful corporations establish performance management systems to measure progress towards their objectives, so too must the Army. Providing leaders the right information at the right time to base resource informed decisions is paramount to improving process performance.

Finally, we must also change the way we view our organizations and continuously take action to re-shape them into high performing structures. Organizations exist solely to produce outcomes. Over time, many of our institutional Army organizations, particularly headquarters, have become excessively layered with decreasing spans of control contributing to crushing oversight and adding time and friction to our processes. Streamlining organizations to improve information flow and efficiency is not an easy task, but is one we need to take head-on if we are to improve the efficiency and responsiveness of our processes.

Committed Army leaders continue to make great progress toward improving our process performance, but much work remains -- our journey toward improved process performance must continue and do so at a more rapid pace. In many areas, we are still employing outdated processes and legacy IT applications, and our great military and civilian workforce succeeds in spite of, versus because of, our systems and processes. Our funding is becoming tighter and demands our careful management. We must empower our subordinates with authority and training to find and improve these aspects of the Army. This is the sole reason for the Office of Business Transformation and we look forward to partnering with you on this worthwhile journey. Army Strong!