Army Business System Portfolio Management Reduces Costs and Improves Capabilities

By Mr. Lyle Hogue (Office of Business Transformation)July 26, 2013

Washington D.C. (29 July 2013) -- The Army spends over $2B per year in Army Business Systems information technology This year, the Army strengthened its investment management for over 700 business systems to reduce costs, improve interoperability and comply with regulatory guidance. After two years of extensive effort, the Army estimates that it will reduce business system investment costs by up to $400 million a year over the next four years with no loss in capability.

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SUCCESSES

In 2012, the Under Secretary of the Army acting in his role as the Chief Management Officer conducted portfolio reviews in the Business Mission Area Domains of Human Resource Management; Acquisition; Financial Management; Logistics; and Installations, Energy, and Environment. This year, the Army incorporated select intelligence functions within the Defense Security Enterprise along with its other Domain reviews. These reviews ensured that investments are aligned to the DoD and Army priorities, goals and objectives.

During this time, the Army also refined its governance process to improve the effectiveness of its business investment oversight. The Secretary of the Army and the Under Secretary of the Army have signed five policy documents that frame the authorities of the Army Business Council and the Army's execution of business systems investment. With an increasing emphasis on portfolio optimization and reducing costs, the Army has assigned over 700 different business systems within functionally aligned Domains. Then, the Army Business Council and Army Business System owners worked to improve interoperability and drive down costs.

The Army estimates that it will be 99% compliant with Department of Defense investment certification and process reengineering standards. Furthermore, the Army will retire almost 300 of 700 business systems in the next four years. In most cases, the capabilities of these retired systems will be subsumed by more interoperable core Enterprise Resource Planning systems. As a result, the total portfolio costs will decline over time by approximately $200 million a year over the next four years.

WHAT'S NEXT

In 2014, the Army will capitalize on its business systems successes with portfolio management in the Business Mission Area. The Army's Office of Business Transformation is working closely with the Army Enterprise Network Council to improve synchronization between the Business Mission Area and the Network Mission Area. The Army Business Council is executing a number of initiatives to reduce institutional risks regarding the development and sustainment of Army Business Systems during this period of intense fiscal pressure. Finally, the Army is refining its plans to establish an electronic, common and hierarchal representation of force structure data to integrate Enterprise Resource Planning systems, other Army Business Systems and warfighting systems in a manner that sustains asset visibility at home station and deployments.