WIESBADEN, Germany - With the Army looking to cut $1 billion from its information technology budget, major changes are on the way for 5th Signal Command over the next three years.
For that reason, Nathan Muncy, chief of enterprise systems and applications branch at 5th Signal Command, briefed a group of 30 technology industry officials about those changes during a Technology Fair at the Wiesbaden Fitness Center July 20.
Col. Bruce Crawford, 5th Signal commander, thanked everyone for attending the talk and said his door is open if anyone wanted to talk to him about the issues.
The Army's goal is to close 75 percent of the Army's data centers, Muncy said, and officials are looking at 175 for potential closure. By the end, Army officials would like to have 25 core datacenters, Muncy said.
"Everyone is getting their budgets cut to the tune of millions," Muncy said.
In Europe, the idea is to have a small footprint by fiscal year 2015, Muncy said, and in some cases, the Army is asking that centers slated for closure to close a year early.
The Army also plans to lease the datacenters commercially and move from government owned and operated centers to commercially owned and operated centers, Muncy said.
"Every command is under the microscope right now to justify every system that they own, every application that they own," Muncy said.
The changes will affect the way 5th Signal does business, Muncy said. The command provides information technology service in support of Unified Land Operations in EUCOM and AFRICOM and is a frequent buyer of computer equipment and services.
Government officials estimate a savings of $500 million over five years, Muncy said.
The new strategy will allow 5th Signal to reduce costs, maximize the use of resources, provide predictable yearly costs, shorten the timeframe for service delivery and increase the amount of infrastructure used, Muncy said.
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