PEO Perspective: August 2021

Following a busy month of charter ceremonies, we now have a brief hiatus until the end of August and early fall, when a few more organizational and leadership changes take place at PEO EIS. On August 27, we will hold the Army Human Resource Systems (AHRS) change of charter ceremony and welcome Mike Payne — formerly our deputy project manager for Enterprise Services — as the new AHRS product director. Mike will replace Kevin Curry, who is going to participate in our Enhanced Command Preparation program before assuming the project manager position at Defense Integrated Business Systems next summer.

Additionally, within our Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems portfolio, I’d like to welcome Mike Van Buskirk as the acting product lead of our new Enterprise IT as a Service product office, and Charlie Cole as the new acting product manager for our Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program product office, replacing Victor Hernandez. Congratulations gentlemen!

PEO EIS’S REENTRY PLANS

Like many other federal agencies and organizations, PEO EIS has spent the past few months carefully considering our reentry plans, pending final guidance from DOD and the Army. Over the past year, we were able to successfully accomplish our mission through a combination of situational telework and mission-critical/limited on-site activities determined by local health protection condition guidelines and program mission requirements. Our tentative plans are to continue this approach through the fall when we begin transitioning to our permanent hybrid approach for the new calendar year. Our biggest priorities are ensuring the health and safety of our workforce, while continuing to follow federal and local guidance, and delivering capability to Soldiers. It’s a delicate balance, but I’m confident we can pull it off! Many thanks to our staff and our external partners for their flexibility and focused efforts during trying times.

RECENT NEWS & EVENTS

DCATS Participates in Discussions on Integrated Army SIPR Architecture

From July 12-16, leaders from our Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (DCATS) portfolio engaged in discussions with the Army G-6, Network Enterprise Technology Command, Army Cyber Command and Network Cross-Functional Team on the development of an integrated Army secret internet protocol router network architecture — a vital component of the Army’s future unified network. DCATS will develop the acquisition strategy for the architecture once it is finalized. It is exciting to be part of the team kicking off the modernization of the Army’s classified networks!

GFEBS-SA Migrates to Army Shared Services Center

Our General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS) product office — part of our Defense Integrated Business Systems (DIBS) portfolio — is in the process of migrating sustainment of its financial management enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for classified customers to the Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) Software Engineering Center (SEC) Army Shared Services Center (SSC). GFEBS – Sensitive Activities (SA) will be the first cloud-based ERP system to transition to SSC. The move is expected to generate short and long-term cost savings across the technical enterprise, as well as ensure that systems are meeting performance and availability thresholds.

UPCOMING EVENT OF NOTE

TechNet Augusta

We have solidified plans for our participation at TechNet Augusta Conference and Expo from August 16-19. On August 17, I will provide a keynote address. Afterwards, our acting deputy program executive officer John Howell will moderate a PEO EIS panel featuring three panelists from our networks side of the house: DCATS project manager Col. Jay Shell; Enterprise Services project director Lee James; and Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) project manager Col. Mark Taylor. Our Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) product office will hold a breakout session later that day. On August 18, I will participate in a panel discussion hosted by the commanding general for the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command, Maj. Gen. Maria Barrett, on “Operationalizing the Unified Network for Multi-Domain Operations.” We look forward to seeing many of you there.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Ross R. Guckert, Program Executive Officer, PEO EIS

Connecting the Army. Working for Soldiers.