As the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (DCNO) for Information Dominance (N2/N6), I also wear another hat — that of the Deputy Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer (DDCIO) - Navy. In this role, I work very closely with the Department of the Navy CIO, Mr. Terry Halvorsen, on those issues that directly affect the U.S. Navy. Alongside my U.S. Marine Corps counterpart, Brig. Gen. Kevin Nally, DDCIO - Marine Corps, I also work with DON CIO on those issues that affect the department as a whole.
Recently, to my surprise, I found out this title as DDCIO-N is why my name is now on the masthead of CHIPS.
Providing great assistance to me in all these efforts is Ms. Janice Haith, who serves as both the director of our Communications, Networks and CIO Division (N2/N6F1) and as my deputy for DDCIO-N issues. I could not juggle all these separate responsibilities without the assistance of Ms. Haith and her remarkable team of professionals.
Having just assumed the DCNO/DDCIO-N mantle on 1 June, this is my first opportunity to address the readership of CHIPS on what we have been doing in the Navy, as well as where we will be focusing our efforts in the months ahead.
I can basically sum our path ahead in three words: Efficiencies, Collaboration and Convergence.
First, we must be smarter in the way we do business. We can no longer approach our jobs by doing things the same way, simply because that is how we have always done it. The rapidly changing technology environment and the need to husband our decreasing resources will not allow this inefficient approach. We started in this campaign for effective IT back in January when we announced a Navy information management/information technology (IM/IT) efficiencies effort focused on enterprise software licensing, data center consolidation and thin client initiatives (NAVADMIN 008/11). I feel we have already made some gains in efficiencies in that we focused in on a few key performance parameters and set a few objectives. For example, with the data center consolidation, the NAVADMIN stated our goal is to reduce data centers by 25 percent, increase server utilization by 40 percent (or more), and increase server virtualization by 50 percent.
The NAVADMIN output will serve to feed the recently established DON integrated product teams (IPTs) to address individual focus areas in the DON CIO-led IT/IM/Cyberspace Efficiency Initiatives and Realignment effort. Members of the N2/N6 staff are actively involved with these IPTs and are serving as the Navy leads for several of the IPTs. N2/N6 is also engaged with the Office of Management and Budget and Department of Defense Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative, which intends to reduce the number of data centers across the federal government.
Moving beyond the goals addressed in that message, we are also leading an effort for the Chief of Naval Operations focused on developing and implementing a "Navy IT Way Ahead." This Way Ahead will improve Navy's IT capabilities, increase efficiencies, streamline processes and gain greater control over Navy's information/networked capabilities. Fleet Cyber Command and Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command leaders and staff will also be directly involved in our IT Way Ahead implementation. Our IT Way Ahead is still in the early stages, but more details will be provided soon.
We must also address collaboration and convergence across all our IT systems. This means we must leverage the talents of those in the intelligence community and work closely with our other service and joint counterparts to maximize the capabilities of all our forces. For example, one challenge is to decide where we put the people and processors such that we take raw data, transport it (or not), process it, and then transport it to the (Navy/joint) decision maker and trigger puller…all inside the adversary's decision cycle.
This is but one of the many efficiencies I will be discussing in the months ahead. As this note is designed to be just a brief initial communications from me, I will stop here. However, I look forward to regularly engaging with you through this great magazine!
Thank you for the hard work you do every day and Keep Smiling!
V/R, VADM Kendall Card
NAVADMIN 008/11 is available at www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/messages/Documents/NAVADMINS/NAV2011/NAV11008.txt.