DOIM communications by the numbers

By Randy Heflin, ANAD DOIMSeptember 19, 2019

DOIM communications by the numbers
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- I was number crunching the other day and realized how much IT and telecommunications are involved in our everyday lives, not only at work but in our homes.

The telephone on your desk falls under the Directorate of Information Management's area of responsibility as well as the telephone switch. There are almost 4,000 phones on the installation.

The mail room also falls under the auspices of DOIM and handles almost 3,500 mail parcels per month; all of which must be x-rayed.

The Hardcopy Reproduction Plant, often referred to as the print plant, processes almost 100 print jobs per month.

There are about 1,300 handheld and vehicle mounted radios installed, managed and maintained by DOIM. The radio towers hovering over the installation as the Giant Voice boxes are all managed by DOIM.

DOIM monitors all fire alarms in all buildings - currently a total of 553.

And let's not forget all Personally Identifiable Information and Freedom of Information Act issues are managed by DOIM as well.

Have you noticed that this list hasn't touched on IT yet?

DOIM is the worldwide Facilities Engineering Maintenance manager and all FEMS processes are hosted here at ANAD DOIM. There are currently almost 3,000 FEMS accounts and we manage 7 (soon to be 7) sites.

Currently, DOIM maintains more than 100 handheld scanners, with more coming.

Almost 700 printers, 800 wireless access points, and over 400 routers and switches are managed by the Network Team.

Our systems administrators manage 98 Servers, both virtual and non-virtual.

DOIM also maintains 225 smart phones, iPads and cell phones as well as 90 IT contracts.

Add to this almost 90 specific databases we manage.

There are 282 miles of fiber and copper.

Last, but not least, there are almost 2,500 workstations/laptops/iPads with several hundred more on the way, all in support of a record high number of Active Directory user accounts, 3,428.

The directorate takes over 900 calls for service or Help Desk contact support per month.

Cybersecurity personnel dispensed over 20,000 IAVA patches last month.

The Risk Management Framework gets more complex every day, making it more difficult to plug a Department of the Army PC into the wall and start working.

Maintaining network accreditation is difficult. A specialized team is required for IT Governance and Waiver processes. Again, you can't just go to Wal-Mart or Best Buy and purchase a piece of IT software or hardware. There are dozens of documents and rules we must follow to accomplish this task.

On top of all that, DOIM provides support to the depot's overall mission. The shops throughout the installation work in ASRS, ATICTS, IWTP and iCIIT.

A lot of people don't know DOIM personnel "developed" iCIIT in house.

The beauty of this is ANAD and the Army owns the "code" and can manipulate it to fit our needs. We don't have to pay a contractor to change a product for us.

Keeping this software and equipment up to date and accredited is more than a full time job for the Systems Administrators and Cybersecurity personnel.

Speaking of DOIM personnel, I have never seen a better, more professional group of DOIM individuals than those serving you here at ANAD.

Approximately 60 percent of your DOIM team members have bachelor's degrees. The state of Alabama's average is 23 percent. Out of the staff, 13 percent have a master's degree. The U.S. average is eight percent.

Twelve percent of DOIM's personnel were hired through a college cooperative education program and five percent were interns, including me.

Many DOIM employees must also maintain certifications. Approximately 45 DOIM employees maintain 130 various professional certifications, including Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator, Cisco Network Administrator, Ethical Hacker, Security+, Network+, A+, Information Security System Professional, Information System Manager, Information Systems Administrator and others.

Information Technology has become and will become more and more intertwined in our daily lives.

The installation has implemented a working group called Digital Depot, which is working to incorporate IT in all facets of both mission and baseline support on depot.

This group looks to implement new technologies from robotics and 3D printing to digital torque tools. They are also looking to simply increase our digital footprint.

The goal is to use technology to realize efficiencies and improve safety. So, the next time you see your DOIM tech at your work site, thank them for all they do.