Pentagon to streamline process for buying business systems

A trial program to revamp the Defense Department's process for acquiring business systems will be formally announced in the next four to six weeks, an official leading the Pentagon's business transformation efforts said this week.

The five to seven years that it can take to field information technology systems is too long, and the process needs to move faster if the department is to adopt industry best practices, said Paul Brinkley, Defense deputy undersecretary for business transformation and co-director of the newly created Business Transformation Agency.

The pilot program will streamline the process for buying business setups such as the Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System, which Brinkley said is the same as that used for weapons system purchases.

Speaking at an Information Technology Association of America luncheon on Monday, Brinkley said it is impossible for the department to know what IT systems will look like 10 years down the road. The new program will speed up the process and will be more aggressive in assessing the risk involved in major business systems purchases.

"We need industry to be vocal about where we are missing the ball," Brinkley said. "There's ample opportunity to grow business with the government in helping it adopt best practices."

A Pentagon spokeswoman declined to provide further details on how the pilot program will work.

Brinkley said the BTA has no plans to take over major service-specific business programs, such as the Army's automated enterprise resource planning system, because the Pentagon's goal is to create a corporate-like headquarters that officials believe the department lacks and needs.

"We're not creating a Trojan horse that's going to swoop in and take over agency-specific initiatives," Brinkley said. "This Defense agency has been established to get the things that [the department is] already trying to do centrally, under control."

Thomas Modly, Defense deputy undersecretary for financial management and co-director of the BTA, said the transformation effort will last for at least a decade and will "probably never end."

Modly said missed business transformation milestones, described in a report to Congress published last week, represent an opportunity for the agency to bring theses issues to the attention of senior management.

"I think 76 percent is good … But I'm happier about the 24 percent we didn't hit," Modly said. "Now we can go to these managers and talk about why we didn't hit these milestones."