| | July 20158CIOReviewU.S. Army Shared Services Center - Finding The Right Mix of People, Process, and Strategy to Become a "Smart Buyer" ofBy George Albinson, Director, U.S. Army Shared Services Center Re-shored Information Technology (IT) services, outsourcing vs. insourcing, and associated implementation strategies are major discussions affecting Chief Information Officers (CIOs) about how they manage their organizations. What are the costs and organizational benefits? What are the short- and long-term effects of one strategy over another? Which strategy will best keep users happy and deliver a low total cost of ownership? To answer these questions, CIOs must recognize that the best approach is as unique as a social security number and depends on the organization, its needs and culture, the available technology, and the maturity levels of each of those. CIOs must find the right mix of people, process, and strategy to fit an organization's current and emerging needs and cost constraints. And finding the right solution has been no different for the U.S. Army and its approach to managing its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) programs. ERP is business management software made up of integrated applications to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from various business activities, including financial management, product management, inventory management, and manufacturing. The Army has four major ERPs currently managed by different private industry Lead Systems Integrators (LSIs) with a combined lifecycle cost over $8 Billion: Army Enterprise System Integration Program (AESIP), Logistics Modernization Program (LMP), Global Combat Support System-Army (GCSS-Army), and General Fund Enterprise Business System (GFEBS). The Army's ERP strategy is "to build and mature an Army insourced system integrator," so as each ERP LSI contract comes to a close, the Army is faced with decisions that will shape what future ERPs will look like, including transitioning certain responsibilities from contractors to the government. These decisions require a carefully choreographed mix of people, processes, and strategy that impact the long-term sustainment and expansion of the ERP systems and direct support to Soldiers. The Army Shared Services Center (SSC) has been selected to serve the LSI role for several Army ERPs. Under the sponsorship of the Research Development & Engineering Command (RDECOM) and through the Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) Software Engineering Center (SEC), the Army SSC leverages Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level-5 processes and is an industry-certified Customer Center of Excellence for ERP technology development and sustainment. Coupled with the RDECOM providing lifecycle engineering support, the Army SSC will serve as a government-based LSI, staffed with a government team opinionin my
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