Need for cultural change is driving force of transformation progress

With a “fragmented” Army enterprise architecture community and misaligned capability sets between offices and the forces, the need for efficiency and improved functionality is driving progress on the Global Network Enterprise Construct (GNEC) transformational effort, one Defense Department official said today.

“We need a change in information technology culture. We need more intelligent analysis,” said Michael E. Krieger, deputy chief information officer.

Krieger reported on the latest efforts in one of the Army’s largest modernization efforts. GNEC aims to bring under one roof various offices, units and endeavors that today remain disparate and chaotic amid the growing pains of digital immigration.

“We’re trying to redefine who the [network infrastructure] architects are, what their skills are and should be, the products being produced and the roles they play,” Krieger said, adding that a disconnect has occurred between the deputy CIO, Base Realignment and Closure activities and higher commands.

But Krieger was upbeat about the future of military network infrastructure. He touted the possibility of a social media type of capability that would open up the enterprise architecture community to facilitate cooperation and integrated solutions.

Additionally, though BRAC has been blamed for a multitude of grievances throughout government, Krieger sees the program as a transformational tool. “BRAC is a great opportunity to evolve our portfolio management,” he said.

Still, he didn’t downplay the hurdles ahead for such a monumental, wide-ranging effort. “We just have to take small bites to evolve capabilities,” he said.