The U.S. Army is moving forward with a sweeping initiative to optimize business systems to transform how it manages and modernizes its enterprise systems, according to Army Chief Information Officer Leo Garciga.
The initiative’s near-term goal is ambitious: to achieve 100 system reductions or process improvements by December. The drive, Garciga added, has created “healthy pressure” across the force.
“Folks feel the pressure of getting some answers and really coming back and giving the Army some opportunities at scale,” he said during a Federal News Network webinar on Thursday.
Garciga outlined how the Army is revising key regulations that govern defense business systems and the overall business process re-engineering process, which is designed to improve efficiency, reduce legacy technology debt, and streamline operations.
“We’re actually changing the Army regulation that really governs that space,” Garciga said. “We’re slimming it down, making it a little bit easier, getting a lot more fidelity in that space.”
Garciga also explained how the Army has issued new guidance redefining what constitutes a business system – a change expected to reshape its digital landscape.
The effort began earlier this summer, when the U.S. Army launched a new strategy to streamline its defense business systems aimed at cutting costs and boosting efficiency.
A July 31 memo offered classification guidance to determine which systems qualify as defense business systems, established updated standards to improve governance, ensured legal compliance, and aligned with the Pentagon’s enterprise goals to enhance “mission readiness and operational efficiency.”
Under the new guidance, defense business systems identification will depend on whether a system integrates both front- and back-end technologies to support Army business functions.
“That’s put us in a place where we can better understand where we have those opportunities to converge,” Garciga said.
The convergence effort includes consolidating systems onto approved platforms to enhance agility and accelerate the delivery of analytics and capabilities to soldiers, civilians, and contractors.
“We’re talking about moving things we thought we’d do in 2030 up to 2027,” Garciga said. “That’s the big thing – moving all of that work left and giving us some space by sunsetting systems.”
According to Garciga, the Army now has a detailed roadmap for transformation. Some program offices, he noted, have voluntarily eliminated redundant systems after reassessing their needs.
“They realize, ‘Hey, do we really need this?’ And they’ve actually come to us and said, ‘We’re just going to kill this,’” he said.
Ultimately, the initiative supports broader Army objectives – improving cybersecurity, increasing cloud adoption, reducing costs, and enabling a successful audit.
“Part of this convergence is killing that tech debt, but it’s also getting an audit,” Garciga said. “If we want to get an audit, this is such a critical effort to happen.”