The Naval Enterprise Networks (NEN) Program Office will be hosting a five-day Security / Technical Enterprise Action Group (S/TEAG) conference in San Diego, California, during the first week of May. S/TEAG is a joint forum consisting of NEN Technical Staff, Echelon II Commands, Operational Communities, and technical contractors. Chief objectives of S/TEAG include review of the NEN Technical Roadmap, updates to current and future Technology Refresh Plans (TRP), the identification of new business requirements, and discussions involving existing security and technical challenges.
Organizations throughout the Department of the Navy (DON) such as: Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems Command, the fleets and Navy Network Warfare Command are invited to the NEN Security/Technical Enterprise Action Group (S/TEAG). Attendance is open to claimants and operational communities via their respective program office.
“Part of the Naval Enterprise Network mission is to harness the speed, insight, and innovation of the digital age and to align our business community with the best of the best in industry in order to provide secure services to our end users,” said Naval Enterprise Networks Program Manager Navy Capt. Michael Abreu. “We are committed to providing value to the Department of the Navy, its leaders and warfighters, on the battlefield of Information Warfare.”
From NMCI’s beginning, DON leadership was faced with: (1) a need to reconcile disparate systems built to meet organizational-level warfighting and business needs; (2) IT technologies and services that outpace the Navy’s collective ability to keep up; and (3) a rapidly-changing, turn-of-the-century global information network.
In response, the DON centralized the components of its ashore-based networks under one single network: NMCI. This strategic move brought common business processes, enhanced security, increased efficiencies, and cost-effective IT capabilities to the network. S/TEAG is just one of many ways that NEN strives to support these associated challenges of owning and operating the world’s largest intranet.
Customer and stakeholder concerns such as: agility of the network, speed-to-market of IT services and the consistency of the network itself — which were revealed at past S/TEAG conferences — indicate that network services and service delivery methodologies will continue to evolve and keep pace with industry as the network grows to meet future needs.
“When considering present day NMCI, we don’t think of a patchwork system whose greatest value is that it enables you to get your email. Instead, we see it as the Navy’s superhighway (the network) that transports several vehicles (applications, data, information) vital to the way we conduct our day-to-day business, such as: Information Assurance; operational readiness; infrastructure; integrated logistics support; business management; records management; mobility; and cybersecurity,” said NEN Chief Engineer Andrew Tash.
“From an organizational standpoint, IT is a value-provider. Responsiveness and close coordination with both our customer base and the Navy’s governing bodies enables us to take an active role in problem solving and implementation of solutions that will keep us chugging straight ahead,” continued Tash.
The S/TEAG working group is an element critical to keeping the DON’s shore-based networks moving forward and is the root of innovation within NEN. The dynamic nature of the group creates an environment of transformation and innovation. The sidebar conversations, breakout sessions and increasing top level (Command Information Officer) participation that occur provide incredibly valuable insights. Customer feedback received at previous S/TEAG conferences, the most recent occurring this past November in Northern Virginia, identified the need for a separate and more robust discussion on technical issues. As a result, a parallel session that focuses customer exchange has been added to this May’s agenda.
“One of the best parts of this past S/TEAG was when our Lead Cybersecurity Engineer worked directly with fleet customers and engineers to resolve present and emerging issues they faced with network migration. He was able to provide them with real-time problem solving,” said STEAG Project Manager, Russell Meadows. “We feel connected to the mission of our program office and strive to make the DON a better and stronger organization. Even the smaller sessions and the side discussions which result from our at-large meetings yield invaluable results to those involved.”
“The biggest transformation we need to undertake is that of our thinking. We need to move from the “Do more with less” way of thinking to one of “Accomplishing more with the same,” said Capt. Abreu. “When it comes to NMCI, as long as there continues to be close collaboration among stakeholders and the Program Office, we can work to attain increased productivity, despite budgetary challenges.”
The Spring 2016 S/TEAG is scheduled for May 2 – 6 in San Diego, California. Details are available here: https://navy.deps.mil/peoeis/sites/nen/onesource/S_TEAG/WP/STEAG.aspx. For additional information, contact Russell Meadows at russell.meadows.ctr@navy.mil .