PEO Perspective: March 2020

CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE
This month and into April, PEO EIS meets with Authorizer and Appropriator professional staff members for the annual budget overview of our portfolio. The Army is committed to wisely using the resources entrusted to us by Congress and the American people to enhance readiness and build a more lethal force. Building relationships with Congress is critical to our being able to deliver agile, innovative and modernized solutions to Soldiers that help them to accomplish their missions.

AROUND EIS
It was my pleasure to announce in our Town Hall last month that former PM IPPS-A Darby McNulty will be joining the headquarters staff as a Highly Qualified Executive (HQE) leading our Transition to Sustainment effort.

Discussion during Town Hall also focused on accomplishments thus far in our lines of effort: Talent and Stakeholder Management and ERP and Network Integration.

TALENT MANAGEMENT
Our people are the Army's greatest asset, and managing talent is a critical effort at PEO EIS. It has been my passion from my first day on the job to ensure that we have the right people in the right jobs at the right time to meet the demands of an Army in motion, so that Soldiers are supported wherever they operate and we are delivering the absolute best software solutions on a modernized and defended network.

To that same goal, the Army is leveraging and expanding the successes of 2019 to recruit and assess the next generation of trusted, professional Soldiers, and PEO EIS is at the tip of the spear, leading the effort to develop, test and deploy the Army Accessions Information Environment (AIE) prototype, intended to assist recruiters in being more effective and efficient by allowing them to accomplish all tasks, using any device, anytime and anywhere.

AIE will provide an enterprise level capability enabling transparency, efficiency and effectiveness of the accessions workforce to acquire the best qualified talent. Phase one of the effort is scheduled to be complete in May of 2020, resulting in fielding a limited version of the prototype system to recruiters in public recruiting stations.

MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION
The Product Lead EC2M is conducting two multifactor authentication (MFA) pilots to strengthen the authentication process and allow Soldiers the convenience to conduct official Army business and online training without government furnished equipment and on their own timeline.

We are currently evaluating MFA technology to satisfy requirements from the Army CIO.

The pilots will evaluate technology and devices that can strengthen Army systems by providing a two-factor authentication solution when the common access card (CAC) is not available. The MFA pilots are scheduled to be completed in March 2020.

GFEBS SUPPORT TO DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY AND CLOUD MIGRATION
GFEBS has been tasked with the enormously important mission of providing the ERP system to track accounts receivable and medical supply procurement for Navy and Air Force hospitals, both previously in different legacy systems, through a Defense Health Agency consolidation. The first wave deployment was in the Washington, D.C. area; the second wave goes live in April with more waves to follow as the system is increasingly deployed.

GFEBS is also migrating to a commercial cloud provider. Development in the cloud began February, with all GFEBS operations on track for migration in fiscal year 2021.

GLOBAL COMBAT SUPPORT SYSTEM – ARMY (GCSS-ARMY)
This week, we reported to Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski that the first unit in USAREUR will rotate back to home-station utilizing a new “DODAAC Portability” capability. This capability enables open Class IX (repair parts) requisitions to follow the unit back home rather than be cancelled as a unit redeploys. This capability supports increased operational readiness and prevents loss of funding. 

Our Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) such as AIE, GFEBS and GCSS-Army provide timely personnel and logistics visibility, enhance operational decision making, and deliver the Army’s logistics and financial solutions, improving operational readiness around the world.

CYBER TALKS
Last month, PM DCO hosted a FireEye Cyber Talk at the Forge. FireEye has tracked multiple advanced persistent threat (APT) groups for years, with activity running the gamut from cyber espionage to destructive attacks and information operations, sometimes carrying out blended global campaigns that have often involved more than one of these threats. The session in February included an overview of adversary capabilities and tactics. Make sure to bookmark our Events page and follow us on Facebook for information about future events like these, open to government, military and industry.

INDUSTRY COMMITMENT
We can’t do this without you. Between July 2019 and the first month of 2020, PEO EIS leaders have conducted an incredible 1,728 industry meetings. This is a testament to our shared commitment to the Soldier, and we are grateful to you all for meeting with us, being prepared, and bringing us the best solutions.

UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS
The annual AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days is just around the corner, April 29 – May 1, at the Gaylord National Harbor. I hope you will attend and hear keynotes from Army and DOD leaders and be sure to catch our program offices’ panels and breakout sessions.

We look forward to sharing the latest programmatic updates and procurement opportunities with you and making connections that will help us to serve Soldiers. This is the reason we’re here – it’s why we serve – and we are so glad to be on this journey with you.

WOMENS HISTORY MONTH
Every March, we celebrate Women’s History Month, highlighting women’s historical and cultural accomplishments. This year’s theme is “Valiant Women of the Vote,” honoring the brave women who fought to win suffrage rights, as well as the women who continue to fight for the voting rights of others. It’s a fitting theme for an election year, and I hope everyone will reflect upon the sacrifices of so many who worked and fought for the opportunity for all Americans to make our voices heard and VOTE!

WORKFORCE RECOGNITION
As we pause to recognize the contributions of all women, most especially the female Soldiers, Army civilians and contractors who serve in the defense of our great nation, I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight some of the women leaders at PEO EIS who continue to inspire and achieve greatness.

Among these are: Debra Lee, Director, Human Resources; Tara Clements, Director, Strategic Communication; Lt. Col. Christine Youngquist, Director, Enterprise IT as a Service (EITaaS); Penny Rabinkoff, Senior Counsel; Miranda Coleman, Acquisition Division Chief; Deborah McLaurin, Resource Management Chief; Michelle Walker, Deputy Project Manager, Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army (IPPS-A); Lt. Col. Laverne Amara, Product Manager, IPPS-A Increment II; Nancy Richardson, Product Lead, Army Enterprise Systems Integration Program (AESIP) Hub; Heather Putman, Acting Product Director, General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS) Development and Modernization; Lt. Col. Leilani Tydingco-Amarante, Product Manager, Cyber Analytics & Detection (CAD); Deidra McCaskill, Acting Product Lead, Enterprise Content Collaboration & Messaging (EC2M); Jennifer Potts, Deputy Project Manager, AESIP; and Patricia Ocasio, Deputy Project Manager, DCO.

We are grateful to all of the dedicated and talented women across PEO EIS working for our team and on behalf of Soldiers – their dedication and wisdom guides us to success every day.

Connecting the Army. Working for Soldiers.

Chérie Smith,
Program Executive Officer