ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – The Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army’s (IPPS-A) Release 3 build team reached another milestone in its development of the system with the conclusion of Product Level Testing on Sep. 30, 2020. Release 3, scheduled for fielding on Dec. 2021, will support over one million Soldiers in the Total Army, bringing together the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and the U.S. Army Reserve into one system.
The System Integrator completed build activities for all 37 functional epics, which are groupings of related functionality that serve as the framework for IPPS-A. Each feature within each epic was assessed by the System Integrator Test Team to verify required functionality was met before moving to the next phase of testing. This means that Release 3 is 100% built.
Since the most recent R3 update, System Integrators also showed their build work in the final conference room pilot (CRP) held Aug. 20, 2020. System Integrators are PeopleSoft experts who complete the configuration and development of the system.
“The purpose of CRPs was to review system development and functionality to gain subject matter expert feedback,” said Maj. Brian Hollandsworth, IPPS-A Release 3 Design and Development Lead. “System integrators and stakeholders being able to view these epics during the next CRP was a win for the progression of the system.”
Hollandsworth said the most recent checkpoint was beneficial since they’re at the point in the build process where the functionality of the system matures into the finished product that users will leverage at go-live.
“As a future user, as different parts of the system come together, you start to get a visual for how the system is going to operate,” said Hollandsworth. “For example, assignment managers at Human Resources Command can see what the look and feel will be for talent management. The same is true for Soldiers at the unit level.”
Attending representatives from U.S. Army Human Resources Command who have assisted with the build participated in Demonstration Checkpoints and CRPs. Hollandsworth said they were pleased with the progress they observed.
“They said it’s like seeing a child mature,” said Hollandsworth. “Another comment was ‘the system looks fabulous.’ So, they are pleased.”
Now less than a year out from the start of New Equipment Training (NET), users can expect to receive transactional training and hands on exercises starting in May 2021. For those users presently desiring to learn more, the IPPS-A training team conducts live virtual training events monthly.
“In 2021, here’s what Soldiers can expect from the IPPS-A training team,” said Lt. Col. Megan Meinholz, IPPS-A Training lead. “We’ll provide training on topics to include data correctness, analytics, position management, and IPPS-A basics. The whole gambit is covered.”
Visit IPPS-A at the virtual Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference Oct. 13-15, 2020 to learn more.
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