Military braces for roll out of massive ERP projects

The Army's General Fund Enterprise Business System project will centralize one of the largest business systems conglomerations in the world.

For years, defense planners have preached about the benefits of modernizing the Defense Department’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to simplify business operations, optimize processes, and provide accurate accounting. However, DOD's ERP landscape is littered with complex and costly system implementations that don’t perform as advertised and are plagued by delays and cost overruns. At stake is DOD’s financial health and its future goal of business transformation.

Long the target of General Accountability Office reports and congressional hearings, DOD’s business systems modernization is one of the most high risk areas in the federal government. In 2010, GAO reported that six of nine DOD ERP systems had schedule slippages ranging from two to 12 years, and five had incurred cost increases ranging from $530 million to $2.4 billion.


Related coverage:

Army launches core financial management system worldwide

There's a lot at stake with military modernization programs


One ERP system that GAO is keeping close tabs on is the Army’s General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS), the service’s new Web-enabled financial, asset and accounting management system designed to control and account for $140 billion in annual spending. When fully deployed in 2012, GFEBS will replace more than 80 Army legacy accounting, financial and asset management systems and will be one of the largest ERP systems in the world, processing a million transactions per day at more than 200 sites worldwide.

Ready or not

In June, GFEBS received a Full Deployment Decision from the Deputy Chief Management Officer (DCMO) that affirmed the deployment readiness of the ERP system and authorized Armywide system implementation. GFEBS is supposed to “usher in a new era in Army financial management,” but the program is struggling.

A DOD Inspector General's report issued in June, the same month that the DCMO gave the go ahead for full deployment, found that the GFEBS program remained at high risk of incurring additional schedule delays, exceeding planned costs, and not meeting program objectives.

This isn't the first time that DOD's IG has found problems with the program. A 2008 IG report identified GFEBS program planning, acquisition, and justification deficiencies. More than three years later, the Army and DOD have yet to implement seven of the 16 recommendations made by the IG.

The IG’s June report recommended that DOD not approve the deployment of GFEBS to additional users until the Army completes its recommendations and corrects data accuracy, reliability, and timeliness deficiencies identified by the Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC). Nevertheless, DCMO Elizabeth McGrath disagreed and stated in a formal response to the IG report that the “material deficiencies identified by [ATEC] have been fully addressed” and that she “determined that the business benefit of GFEBS is greater than reported program risks.”

DEAMS or dreams?

The Army’s GFEBS and the Air Force’s Defense Enterprise Accounting and Management System (DEAMS) have much in common. Both GFEBS and DEAMS attempt to have a single system of record for their service’s respective general funds.

DEAMS, scheduled to be fully deployed by the end of fiscal 2016 to all Air Force bases worldwide, is operational only at Scott Air Force Base and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. The DOD Milestone Decision Authority directed that DEAMS not be deployed to other bases until known system weaknesses have been corrected and the system has been independently tested to ensure that it is operating as intended.

According to GAO, the DEAMS program experienced a three year schedule slippage due to problems caused by software code defects, integration test delays and to accommodate schedule risk. In addition, DEAMS has also seen its life-cycle cost double from about $1.1 billion to a little more than $2 billion. When pressed for an update on projected life-cycle costs for the program, DEAMS Program Manager Jerry Duke said the latest Air Force cost estimate is “still in the works”.

According to September GAO testimony before Congress, DEAMS requires manual workarounds to process certain accounts receivable transactions due to data not being properly converted from legacy systems. GAO offifcials also testified that DFAS officials have had problems with some system interfaces, and that DEAMS does not provide the capability to produce the ad hoc reports that can be used to perform the data analysis needed for daily operations.

“We’ve seen the [GAO] report, we’re looking into the problems, and we’re addressing them as we find them,” said Duke. “The next milestone decision is Milestone B in December and at that time they will either give us permission to roll out or not. The ultimate goal of DEAMS is to make the Air Force in compliance with the CFO Act and be auditable. We’re progressing very well on both issues.”

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 requires the services to be audit-ready by September 30, 2017. However, in testimony before Congress in September, GAO Director of Financial Management and Assurance Asif Khan said “to the degree that these business systems do not provide the intended capabilities, DOD’s goal of departmentwide audit readiness by the end of fiscal year 2017 could be jeopardized.”

Air Force Comptroller Jamie Morin has conceded the service has a long way to go to meet the 2017 audit deadline. In July, Morin told a Senate subcommittee: “Our ability to achieve audit readiness depends in part on our ability to field our ERPs … these systems are replacing Vietnam-era bookkeeping systems that are not compliant with any of the key requirements that are needed to get to audit readiness. While ERPs are not a panacea and the fielding of them has not been without challenges, there is no alternative to modernizing Air Force financial management systems.”

Don’t blame the software

GFEBS is an SAP-based ERP system while the Air Force’s DEAMS uses Oracle software. But, don’t blame the COTS software or the integrator, Accenture, says Gary Winkler, the Army’s former program executive officer for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), who served in that position for three and a half years overseeing a portfolio of the service’s ERP programs that included GFEBS.

“An ERP package, whether it’s SAP or Oracle, is built to be configured to an organization’s business processes,” said Winkler, who resigned from federal service at the end of April. “A lot of times what happens with these ERP systems is they get into system development and they either haven’t reengineered the business process or they try and reengineer the business process at the same time and that just causes a whole lot of churn and confusion.”

The other challenges are on the requirements and configuration management side, he said, “if those things aren’t done, it makes it very hard for [program managers] or industry partners to deliver an ERP system that people want, because people haven’t defined what they want.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.