The U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command's Commander's Action Group hosted an Information Technology (IT) Service Management workgroup Dec. 11-15 in Greely Hall.

As the Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) environment within the Network Enterprise Technology Command, (NETCOM), exponentially grows; it is critical in terms of IT service quality that service providers, customers and procurement stake holders synchronously work together to define, procure and sustain the precise network technologies and standards required to operate the Army’s Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN-A).

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. — As the Network Enterprise Technology Command Information Technology Service Management, or ITSM, team’s responsibilities exponentially grow to support the objectives and the priorities established in the Army Digital Transformation Strategy, the team recently hosted an information technology service management workgroup Dec. 11-15 in Greely Hall at Fort Hauchuca.

The event brought subject matter experts together to help form a shared understanding of Army IT Service Catalog Services and capabilities for NETCOM’s current Army IT portfolio, which include tools and services like the Azure Virtual Desktop, virtual desktop infrastructure, commercial solutions for classified virtual secure remote, the Bring Your Own Device program and Secure Internet Protocol Network email.

As IT services become a critical focal point of NETCOM’s in-house and cloud service tools, customers and procurement stakeholders must synchronously work together to define, procure and sustain the precise network technologies and standards required to operate the Army’s Department of Defense information network.

With a team of less than a dozen IT specialists, NETCOM’s ITSM team under the business operations division works on behalf of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff, G-6 to meticulously revise and publish the Army Information Technology Portfolio annually, which is the technician-facing document with restricted dissemination to service providers.

In addition, the ITSM team annually revises and publishes the Army Information Technology Service Catalog which is the customer-facing document with unrestricted dissemination to all Army customers. It identifies the twenty-seven baseline IT services orderable by the customers funded by Department of the Army and provided by local network enterprise centers to Army customers on Army installations.

The ITSM service catalog, created between 2016-2017 as an effort to consolidate all theater specific catalogs into single enterprise-wide authoritative document for all DA users. Thus, the service catalog features, service definitions, service delivery expectations for customer and service provider and identification of service level agreements parameters for possible mission-funded IT related support requests.

The Catalog as it exists today will evolve to the Army Enterprise Service Management Platform (AESMP). It will exist as a menu in that platform for the Services defined as Enterprise. When implemented, it will explain the available services to the customer as does the current document.

The ITSM service catalog was created between 2016-2017 as an effort to consolidate all theater specific catalogs into single enterprise-wide authoritative document for all DA users. The service catalog features service definitions, service delivery expectations for customer and service provider and identification of service level agreements parameters for possible mission-funded IT related support requests.

According to Douglas Treftz, NETCOM IT systems manager, the baseline IT services are ordered through the ticketing system, Army Enterprise Service Desk or the Army Enterprise Service Managed Platform. The AESMP managed service provides 24/7/365 global support to over 1.4 million Army sites and Army users.

“Customers can complete a service request and the ticket will go to the resolver groups at the servicing network enterprise centers or regional cyber centers. The request fulfilment process will identify requirements to provide to the customer,” Treftz said.

Although providing a service catalog that the rest of the Army can use to track, update, and maintain its IT infrastructure is the primary goal of the NETCOM ITSM team; it’s the strategic impact this valuable amenity provides to the force. For example, within the past 18 months the NETCOM ITSM initiatives have significantly impacted the Army’s organizational network convergence campaign, which has helped advance and integrate the Army’s contribution to Joint All-Domain Command and Control by achieving the goals of a total unified network.

Not only does the ITSM team manage NETCOM’s baseline IT services they also provide guidance on the development of service agreements as well as monitor those activities. The flexibility for NETCOM to offer in-depth IT services leverages the capability of the Army Information Technology Portfolio and magnifies the overarching objectives of the Army Digital Transformation Strategy, including transitioning to multi-domain operations and reinforcing modernization concepts such as the UN.

With a team of less than a dozen IT specialists, NETCOM’s ITSM team under the Business Operations Division (BOD) works on behalf of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff, G-6 (DCS G-6), to meticulously revise and publish the Army Information Technology Portfolio (AITP) annually, which is the technician-facing document with restricted dissemination to service providers.

“And to gauge the service catalog’s effectiveness with regards to customer needs, the ITSM team also compiles and reports IT Metrics to DCS, G-6 to support installation status reports for the 700 primary service categories to Army leaders and Congress for actions and actions by all echelons of NETCOM,” said Billy Busse, NETCOM business operations division chief.

As the Army makes the network it’s number one priority it becomes imperative to NETCOM ITSM team to place an emphasis on being the Army’s premier service provider. Likewise, NETCOM’s Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Christopher L. Eubank is placing prominence on unit commanders and regional cyber center directors to market the IT services NETCOM has to offer.

“Let’s get to this place where our network is the preferred network, I want the U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Randy George to stand up on a stage somewhere like AUSA and pull out his personal iPhone and say this is my workspace. How powerful would that be,” Eubank said.

“It is no longer the NETCOM of old, we are driving change on behalf of the Army every day and again it's about delivering a service that customers are comfortable with. It’s our goal to deliver better than pretty good service, each and every day,” concluded Eubank.