FORT MEADE, Md. -- The Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army is now live in 43 states, as the force draws closer to full integration across the National Guard with 11 more states and territories to go, officials said Tuesday.
IPPS-A is a web-based human resources system, integrating the Army's personnel, pay and talent management functions into one secure web-based application, said Col. Gregory Johnson, director of IPPS-A's functional management division.
The Army currently maintains close to 200 personnel and pay systems, many of which are responsible for just one to two functions, Johnson explained. Full IPPS-A integration across the Guard under "release 2" of the program is slated for completion by the end of March, subsequently eliminating around 40 HR systems by 2025.
Guard members can access all the same IPPS-A features through a secure application on their mobile devices, said Maj. Leonard Baklarz, the release 2 lead. Through the app, self-service transactions, to include trouble tickets, are automated, paper-free and transparent.
"Allowing Soldiers to see their HR records on a mobile device … is a massive leap toward modernization and a recognition that we are in the 21st century," Johnson added.
FULLY TRANSPARENT
With the completion of release 2 in March, Army leaders -- for the first time -- will gain full visibility over the entire Guard under one application, Baklarz said.
"When we got started implementing state by state, the Guard was on different versions of the (Standard Installation and Division Personnel Reporting System, or SIDPERS) … and they did not interact with one another," Johnson said.
IPPS-A will also provide Guardsmen access to their records under one centralized system, Baklarz said. Previously, Soldiers needed to complete an HR action manually that created a trail of paperwork that often circulated throughout an organization, with no simple way to track or inquire about its status.
"All actions generated in IPPS-A are transparent to everyone. Notifications are delivered to the Soldier and the HR professional, letting them know that there is an update (to their record)," Baklarz said. "Simple things like that, I think we take for granted because of the information age we live in."
In the coming months, IPPS-A officials will release an order, outlining many of the changes to the system and the way ahead for the program, Johnson said.
"We need to get IPPS-A out to the Army so we can improve our Soldiers' lives," he added.
THE WAY AHEAD
Moving forward, program leads will start to incorporate the Army Reserve and active-duty force under "release 3" of the program. The process of transitioning over a million Soldiers throughout the total force is scheduled for completion by December 2021, Johnson said.
Release 3 will provide a foundation to enable the Army Talent Alignment Process across the force, said Lt. Col. Boyd Bingham, release 3 lead. Through IPPS-A, commanders will have the ability to match a Soldier's knowledge, skills and behaviors, or KSBs, to critical positions.
"With the publishing of the Army People Strategy, IPPS-A was noted as the key enabler to transition our current HR systems and processes," Johnson said. "There is Army senior leader buy-in and support to get everybody onto one system, and to utilize their talents in different ways."
The IPPS-A team is currently looking to incorporate a "25-point talent profile," which allows Soldiers to categorize their KSB data across different "buckets" within the system, Johnson said.
"IPPS-A is meant to capture a Soldier's experience throughout their careers," he said. "We want to highlight … (and) track this data in a better way."
The program will later move on to "release 4," which will merge all of the Army's payroll applications under the new system, Johnson said. This leg of the expansion is scheduled for completion by May 2025.
Related Links:
Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army website
Army launches enlisted assignment market for select career fields
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