PEO Perspective August 2019

ENTERPRISE IT AS A SERVICE

Last month, PEO EIS announced a Prototype Project Opportunity Notice to award up to three prototype other transaction authority (OTA) agreements for the Army’s Enterprise Information Technology as a Service (EITaaS) pilot.

This is a collaborative effort between PEO EIS, Army Cyber Command and the Army CIO/G6 that asks industry to propose commercial IT service delivery options. The July notice was the culmination of a three-month process that began in April with a Sources Sought/Request For Information notice, asking interested vendors to self-qualify against eight capabilities selected by the government to demonstrate their ability to serve as a prime offeror; over 40 responses from industry influenced a change in the acquisition strategy to combine two lines of effort in the government’s approach. During a collaboration day between government and industry and a series of one-on-one sessions with 52 vendors, we collected valuable feedback that further shaped the requirements.

The result is a revised acquisition plan combining all three lines of effort at every pilot site under one prime, with work to begin in fiscal year 2019. Questions and comments on the notice from interested vendors were due on July 25, with final proposals due August 16. (The Technical Volume 1 is still due August 9.)

PEO EIS is proud to be a part of the team leading the procurement effort, working closely with Army Cyber Command and CIO/G6 to support the pilot, starting with Army Futures Command headquarters in Austin, Texas; Fort Polk, Louisiana; and Camp Roberts, California.

Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu interviewed Assistant PEO Dan Joyce and ARCYBER’s communications director, Charlie Stadtlander in a deep dive into the EITaaS process and intent, with some OTA insights for both industry and government. Dan is attending Senior Service College and Lt. Col. Christine Youngquist has taken the lead for PEO EIS for this very important project.

HAILS AND FAREWELLS

Summer is always a busy leadership transition season. In a town hall I hosted last month, I discussed recent changes and introduced our new deputies across the program portfolio. A downloadable pdf of our newest organization chart is now available on our website, to help you stay on top of all the changes. We have also begun a series of interviews with the new deputies to introduce them to the community – search #PEOEISTeammateTuesday on our Facebook page to see all of our spotlights.

The first week of August, we welcomed Lt. Col. Michael Lind, who is taking the reins for Product Manager Cyber Platforms and Systems (PdM CPS) from Lt. Col. Scott Helmore. Scott was the charter PdM for Defensive Cyber Operations, which then became Project Manager DCO, now led by Col. Chad Harris. Col. Harris’ entire team has led innovation in defensive cyber solutions through the Forge, a space for collaboration with industry and rapid acquisition.

The next departure is Lt. Col. Preston Hayward, Product Manager Global Combat Support System-Army (GCSS-Army), who is retiring this year, and we welcome Lt. Col. William Reker, who will take over the position. We also say a fond farewell to Ralph Ocasio who is retiring; in the course of his civilian career, Ralph has held leadership positions in multiple programs such as PM DCO and Reserve Component Automation Systems.

Please join me in offering an enthusiastic welcome to our new program leadership – we are pleased to have you on board, and we look forward to continued success with your talents on the team! To those transitioning out of PEO EIS, I thank you for your service and commitment to the mission and your dedicated support of the team.

UPCOMING EVENTS

A sneak peek at some fall programs: I will be kicking off the new fiscal year with AFCEA Belvoir at their monthly luncheon on September 25 at Fort Belvoir, and PEO EIS will have a presence at the AFCEA NOVA Small Business IT Day in November, in addition to our usual presence at the annual AUSA conference in October. And in the near term, Deputy PEO Brendan Burke will speak August 22 at AFCEA TechNet in Augusta, Georgia.

WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY

On a national level, we celebrate Women’s Equality Day August 26, commemorating the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote. It’s incredible to consider that this hard-fought victory happened less than one hundred years ago. We are indebted to women in uniform and in civilian service – they continue to break barriers in service and sacrifice to our country.

Thank you to everyone who serves and all those who support our Army. In everything we do, we are focused on supporting and securing Soldiers in their missions.

Connecting the Army. Working for Soldiers.

Chérie Smith

Program Executive Officer Enterprise Information Systems