FAQ:
Business Transformation Agency (BTA)
“Our challenge
is to transform not just the way we deter and defend, but the way we conduct
our daily
business. Let's make no mistake. The modernization of the
Department of Defense is a matter of some urgency. In fact, it
could be said that it's a matter of life and death, ultimately,
every American's.”
—U.S. Secretary of Defense
Donald H. Rumsfeld
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What prompted the stand-up of the Defense Business Transformation
Agency (BTA)?
With the recognition by the Department's leadership
that the Business Mission Area (BMA) needed to enhance support
to the warfighter and provide better financial accountability to
the American people, the Defense
Business Systems Management Committee (DBSMC) approved the
establishment of a defense agency to lead and coordinate business
transformation efforts across the Department
of Defense (DoD). Deputy Secretary of Defense, Gordon England directed
the establishment of the Defense Business
Transformation Agency (BTA) in a memorandum effective
October 7, 2005. The mission of this Agency is to transform business
operations to achieve improved
warfighter support while enabling financial accountability across
the Department of Defense. The BTA announced its organizational
structure February 3, 2006.
What are the goals of the BTA? What does the Department hope to
accomplish?
The BTA enables support to the warfighter and provides
accountability to the American taxpayer by systematically improving
DoD's business processes, systems and investment governance.
To achieve goals providing consistency, consolidation and coordination
across the Department of Defense, the DoD produced the Enterprise
Transition Plan (ETP), an integrated and executable roadmap
aligned to the Business
Enterprise Architecture (BEA). The ETP and the
BEA enable the Department to transform business operations to achieve
improved warfighter support while enabling financial accountability
across the Department of Defense.
What will the make-up of the BTA be?
Mr. David M. Fisher was named Director of the BTA on February 22, 2007. Mr. Fisher reports to the Deputy Under Secretary
of Defense for Business Transformation (AT&L).
Directorates within the BTA include the Defense Business Systems Acquisition Executive (DBSAE), Enterprise Integration, Transformation Planning and Performance, Transformation Priorities
and Requirements - Financial Management, Transformation Priorities
and Requirements - Human Resources Management, Transformation Priorities
and Requirements - Supply Chain Management, Investment Management, Warfighter Support, and Chief of Staff. For information on leadership of the BTA, click here.
In regards to BTA personnel, how many people are expected to staff
the BTA? Where will the BTA be headquartered?
It is estimated that
the Agency will be staffed by approximately 350 personnel, which
includes government and contract staff. The BTA is headquartered
in Arlington, VA.
How will the establishment of the BTA improve
the Department’s business transformation initiative?
The BTA
has been established to a) ensure consistency, consolidation and
coordination of DoD Enterprise-level business systems, and b) reduce
redundancies in business systems and overhead costs. The Agency
is responsible for integrating the work of the Office of the Secretary
of Defense (OSD) Principal Staff Assistants (PSAs) in the areas
of business process re-engineering, Core Business Mission (CBM)
activities and Investment Review Board (IRB) matters, as determined
by the DBSMC. The BTA encourages further collaboration across the
Department, by working to achieve centralized visibility to investments
in enterprise-wide business transformation efforts.
What will be the role of the Business Management Modernization
Program (BMMP) in defense business transformation? What will change
within the program now that the BTA has been established?
The Business
Transformation Agency represents an evolutionary step forward in
the Department's efforts to transform its Business Mission
Area (BMA). Previously, the Business Management Modernization Program
(BMMP), BMMP served as the basis for transformation within the
Department's BMA.
However, with the establishment of the BTA,
BMMP ceases to exist as a program. Through the BTA, DoD is able
to further refine the scope and approach defined within the ETP
and the BEA, through the consolidation, coordination and integration
of the Department's Enterprise-level business transformation
activities. The stand-up of the BTA provides for a formal, centralized
approach to the Departments business transformation goals, providing
greater streamlined processes and tiered accountability.
This is
not the first business transformation initiative that the Department
has undertaken. How is the current defense business transformation
initiative different from previous attempts?
In transforming its
business operations, the DoD faces many of the same issues that
confront large corporations. As it is not economically or organizationally
possible to make sweeping changes all at once, successful transformation
focuses on a clear set of priorities aligned to the most urgent
customer needs. Additionally, change must be driven from the top
with a clear accountability of what functions, systems, and standards
will be centralized versus decentralized.
The Department's
most recent business transformation effort embodies these principles
and, since its inception in 2001, has become the vehicle for change.
The ongoing DoD Enterprise and Component partnership has resulted
in the development of a clearer understanding of the expansive
business and financial systems environment of the Department and
where opportunities exist to leverage information technology (IT)
assets to deliver improved capabilities to the warfighter. System
reductions will be a by-product of successful business transformation.
Guided by the DBSMC's structured approach of focusing on
priority capabilities and through the leadership of the BTA, transformation
to a modern defense business infrastructure is fully underway.
Is
DoD creating a new bureaucracy through the establishment of the
BTA?
No. The establishment of the BTA does not create a new bureaucracy,
it creates a focused vehicle for business execution and accountability.
Previously, defense business transformation efforts and system
investments were executed across a number of separate organizations
within the Department. This structure created challenges for the
organization as it worked to integrate its historically disparate
business processes and systems. The BTA shifts the resources working
on business process and system modernization into a unified, focused
organization. In doing this, the Department is encouraging further
collaboration, and achieving centralized visibility to investments
in DoD-wide business modernization efforts. Establishing the BTA
also provides an opportunity to minimize redundancy and reduce
overhead.