Modernization Program Delivers
Written by Jeana Cunningham
SERVICES ON AN IT BACKBONE FOR GARRISONS
THAT CURRENTLY LACK THE INFRASTRUCTURE.
Since its inception in 2006, the Army’s Infrastructure Modernization Program (IMOD) has been the most massive restructuring of information technology in the history of the military. Its ultimate goal is to provide a superior communications infrastructure to support the warfighter. IMOD and its $4 billion cost ceiling have been divided among 10 prime contractors charged by the government to improve, upgrade and re-engineer the entire basic infrastructure of voice, data and video at base level, which means all Army posts, camps and stations.
IMOD, the successor to the Digital Switched Systems Modernization Program that expired in 2007, is in the third year of a five-year period of performance (POP) ending in April 2011. A second five-year time frame, the option POP, concludes in 2016.
What makes IMOD’s scope so vast is its mandate to examine the current IT infrastructures at selected Army locations worldwide, determine where capabilities have been constrained by the architecture of the older systems, and develop an infrastructure that is reliable, secure and sustainable. All equipment required for the new architecture must be technically compliant and, in some cases, certified by the Defense Information Systems Agency Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC). Certification by JITC means that a product has undergone rigorous testing and been approved in a number of critical areas such as security, protocol compliance, scalability and stability.
As part of the process, there are two forces that impact IMOD decision-making, including the need for a state-of-the-art communications architecture on every military post or garrison. Modernized IT infrastructures are integral to the support of the warfighter and mission-critical facilities, especially in preparation for rapid deployment. In addition, a low cost of ownership must be maintained once the system is in place.
The intent of this vast project is to provide sophisticated services on an IT backbone for garrisons that currently lack the infrastructure. The components required to accomplish this goal are many, including equipment, systems engineering, site surveys, state and local clearances, integration consulting, site preparation, installation, testing and logistics support. Compounding this task is that each solution is unique to each base. What works for one garrison may not apply to another.
Fort Bragg, N.C., is an example. The number of military and civilian personnel on this long-time Army facility nearly equals the population of Chapel Hill, the state’s 16th largest city, making it a significant undertaking to completely redo Fort Bragg’s IT infrastructure. In addition, IT systems must provide support to different Army forces commands, such as Joint Special Operations and Army Special Operations. Yet the information architecture solution remains unique to Fort Bragg and may be completely inapplicable for other large posts such as Fort Hood, Texas, or Fort Benning, Ga.
The Defense Department’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) initiative presents other unique considerations, since it involves mass movements of battalions from one location to another. The primes and subcontractors must assure that the comprehensive architecture they deliver for the redeploying unit can not only handle the basics, such as the Army Knowledge Online Web portal, e-mail addresses, contact information, medical records and security data, but also everything else that the Army requires and may eventually need in its IT backbone. From an IT viewpoint, there is more at stake than infrastructure development for units that are moved thousands of miles. The goal is IT sustainability during and after, which is a vital component of national security.
Prime contractors have diverse views of the impact of BRAC on IMOD. “From an environmental standpoint, it may cause IMOD to accelerate timelines for posts, camps and stations, which may affect how and when tasks are completed,” said Benjamin Fletcher Jr., vice president of Army infrastructure solutions at General Dynamics Information Technology. “However, our work is mutually exclusive from BRAC requirements, which enables us to focus on a successful project.”
A different viewpoint was offered by Jeffery Murray, Federal Division senior vice president and general manager at Black Box Network Services, another prime contractor. “BRAC presents some technology challenges because it’s a program that is constantly shifting, growing, moving and changing,” Murray said.
Regardless of all these tasks, the first three years of IMOD have already made an impact, according to Murray, who noted that IMOD “has brought benefits and provided advanced technologies and capabilities to many Army posts, camps and installations worldwide.”
PROMISE FULFILLED
IMOD is fulfilling its promise based upon the results from initial installations. Delivery of data when and where it is most needed is being actuated through products that meet or exceed government requirements. The government will accept nothing less than superb technical platforms.
It’s easy to focus on that initial $4 billion cost figure, but the Army is wisely concerned about controlling ongoing costs after IMOD and the total cost of ownership once new IT architecture is installed. The operational cost factor is especially important for prime contractors and subcontractors like Fujitsu, which provide and support optical networking equipment.
The reason the government demands products that have undergone rigorous JITC testing is to assure the selection of secure and reliable platforms. This ultimately translates to lower long-term maintenance costs, technical compliance and ease of operation. But contractor responsibility does not end with product installation. Since the Army’s goal is to bring up services on a network rapidly and at minimal cost, a command center must be able to provision services across the network without having to dispatch technicians to remote sites. The awards during the current POP have already shown that the Army’s objective of low-cost, remote maintenance is being met.
Another barometer of IMOD’s success is the creation of an environment in which government and private industry work openly, share information and create relationships. Much of that is due to the work of the Army’s Information Systems Engineering Command (ISEC), which sets the standards for engineering, site surveys, design and specifications. ISEC has held a number of conferences for prime and sub-contractors dealing with all of those standards and their implementation.
“They constantly reach out to industry to find out what the best practices, architectures and solutions might be,” said Murray. “ISEC has done a fantastic job of interacting with industry.” Contractors emphasize IMOD’s importance for today’s and tomorrow’s Army. Fletcher said its most important benefit will be “a better and more reliable network with the best technology for men and women in uniform,” while Murray called IMOD “phenomenally successful.”
The generation now serving this country is more computer savvy than its predecessors, with solid IT skill sets that can be maximized with IMOD implementation. Whether it’s the basics—medical, payroll, personnel records and training—or more sensitive and mission-critical information such as secure or secret traffic, IMOD has already begun providing reliable and state-of-the-art architecture on platforms that deliver missioncritical data and information across a garrison or around the world for training, deployment or executing the mission at low operational cost. ✯
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Jeana Cunningham is vice president of federal sales for Fujitsu Network Communications.
