PEO Perspective: July 2020

OUR NATION’S BIRTHDAY

Last month we marked 245 years of Army excellence. Happy Birthday Army! No matter the challenges we face, the Army has always answered the call to protect our people. The Army is a reflection of our country, so as we prepare for our nation’s Independence Day this month, we have an opportunity to strive to be even better – personally, professionally, and as a country. It is our obligation to those who came before us and fought for our freedoms, to live up to the principles upon which our country was founded: Freedom, Liberty and Justice for all.

OUR DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH

Last month the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army issued a letter addressing racial discrimination and a call to action among Army leaders to introduce difficult discussions among our workforce so that we may learn and grow, and provide a safe, non-discriminating workplace for all. PEO EIS is a diverse and inclusive workplace that is a reflection of our nation. Over the last few weeks, each of our project offices, including the headquarters, conducted Town Halls with the workforce for open, honest and respectful discussion.  While this is a difficult conversation, it’s a necessary one. As a leadership team, Mr. Burke and I are listening, and we will continue to put people first, ensuring diversity, equality and inclusion in every aspect of building and maintaining readiness and supporting our Soldiers. I want to thank the workforce for their comments and input. I look forward to my first Town Hall later this month to outline priorities, discuss that input, and chart a path for EIS in the future.

CROSS SERVICES SUMMIT

The end of June marked my first opportunity to engage in active discussions and lessons learned at the Cross Services PEO Summit. I appreciated the discussions about COVID-driven lessons learned and its challenges; Enterprise IT as a Service updates from us and our Air Force counterparts, talent management initiatives impacting the business system community, AND cloud initiatives.

I've learned that there is rarely a problem that someone else hasn’t faced. We’re not in this alone, and the summit proved a unique opportunity to collaborate. Each service partitions requirements and data differently; however, we're all on a long-term journey of business process standardization and systems reduction. When it comes to our ERPs, we're consolidating and modernizing at the same time.  This is complex work given our unique start points, the way our systems are bundled and how long it really takes to sunset legacy systems. I find tremendous value in discussing shared challenges and lessons learned to drive discipline in our processes, and I look forward to future conversations and actionable outcomes.

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF CONGRESS

Congress’ understanding and endorsement of our programs is vitally important to supporting Soldiers in their missions.

PEO EIS directly supports every domain, branch, unit and Soldier in the Army.  Every Soldier uses and relies on us to conduct their business every day, whether they’re completing training on the Army Training Information System or using Army Vantage to leverage authoritative data and make insight-driven decisions.

We’re part of the Army Team, and to be effective, we’re committed to building and maintaining meaningful relationships our key partners, customers, stakeholders, and Congress. Last month I met virtually with professional staff members (PSMs) from the defense committees. These individuals serve our nation by tackling complex issues and stewarding tax dollars to ensure that we are collectively promoting excellence and prioritizing the most critical needs of our nation.

I just passed my one month mark, so I’m still learning some of the complexities of our portfolio myself, but I am committed to continuing the dialog that Ms. Smith fostered in the last two years, and my intent is to begin our relationship with the Hill emphasizing transparency and regular communication.

LEADERSHIP CHANGES

We are continuing the summer transition period with several changes of charter in July. In the month ahead, we will observe the Acquisition Logistics and Technology Enterprise Systems and Services (ALTESS) change of charter, as leadership passes from Tim Hale to Boyd Williams to continue the important work of delivering military-strength data security, innovative solutions and a best-in-class customer support experience to millions of data center users around the world.

Additionally, Col. Chad Harris will relinquish the charter for Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) to Col. Mark Taylor, continuing the mission of providing hardware, software, and tools to proactively defend and enable the Army’s network.

Last month I shared with you that Col. R.J. Mikesh, former project manager for the Army Enterprise Systems Integration Program (AESIP) and dual-hatted as the Assistant PEO for the Business Mission Area, joined the Operation Warp Speed (OWS) Task Force, which is charged with accelerating the development, manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.  To fill the critical APEO role, I’m excited to welcome back Mr. Dan Joyce. His previous experience as the Assistant PEO for Networks, Cyber and Services, coupled with his extensive time at ASA(ALT) and graduation from the Eisenhower School last month, brings a wealth of experience to this key position.

This month the leadership of the AESIP program will transition to Col. Rob Wolfe, while the program itself with undergo a name change, to Army Data and Analytics Platform (ARDAP), which will manage the Army Vantage program, among other ERP modernization and data initiatives. We are driving to ensure our data is Visible, Accessible, Understandable, Trusted, and Interoperable, with a goal of integrated ERPs that are more seamless to the end user, using data entered ONCE, and ensuring one authoritative data source.

The Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army (IPPS-A) portfolio is our largest within the PEO, and Army senior leaders have put a tremendous priority on the IPPS-A Inc II team to deliver needed capability to our warfighters. Col. Rob Williams and his incredible team are doing a phenomenal job. To maintain the focus and deliver IPPS-A on schedule, I will be aligning Col. Williams almost solely on IPPS-A. 

To accomplish this, I will be moving the Product Director Army Human Resources System (PdD AHRS) out of his portfolio and making Mr. Kevin Curry and his team a direct report to me. This move also includes the Accessions Information Environment (AIE) effort, another very high priority for our senior leaders. Kevin, his team and industry are positioned to deliver Wave 1 later this year. This change is immediate, with the understanding that my staff will fully support the team on all administrative requirements. 

We’ll be updating our organization chart to help you stay current with points of contact on the leadership team. As always, please check out our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages and this space for latest updates on events and ways to connect.

WAY AHEAD

After what we know was careful consideration, AFCEA has made the difficult decision to postpone TechNet Augusta 2020. While we were looking forward to meeting with industry in Augusta next month, we understand and appreciate the need for caution. The event has been rescheduled for January 25-28, 2021, and we hope to connect with you there!

To those leaders transitioning out of PEO EIS, thank you for your dedication and commitment during your time serving here. The acquisition community is small and our paths are sure to cross again. Wherever your careers take you serving our Army, know that you will always be a part of the PEO EIS family. To those who are just coming on board, you are here because you are the best of the best. I am confident in your abilities to help shape the future of the organization with Soldiers always as the focus.

I am humbled to be a part of this impressive team and share in what we contribute to our great Army and every Soldier, every day. 

Connecting the Army. Working for Soldiers.

Ross R. Guckert
Program Executive Officer