Ms. Haith is responsible for all CIO matters related to the Navy. This includes governance, enterprise architecture, information assurance, information management/information technology and Clinger-Cohen Act Compliance.
Ms. Haith responded in writing to questions regarding ongoing efforts across the Navy to reduce business IT spending and increase efficiencies in mid-March.
Q: Due to the chance of a continuing budget resolution and sequestration, the Department
of the Navy had to take immediate action on several fronts and has announced that it will cut back
its spending on information technology in 2013 by 25 percent. The IT cut is effective immediately, and is in addition to the service's previous commitment to reduce its technology expenditures by 25
percent between 2011 and 2016. What will be some of the immediate effects of this policy?
A: We can anticipate a slowdown of IT spending in all areas, except warfighting.
We can expect aggressive enforcement of cost-saving policies such as the multifunction device policy which requires us to improve management and use of standalone printers, copiers, fax machines and scanners, and move to multifunctional devices that include all these functions. We are also optimizing cell phone and BlackBerry usage to reduce over and underutilization and zero use. We have expanded the use of Defense Connect Online vice modernizing VTCs and are looking to significantly reduce our legacy networks for integration into the enterprise network environment. We have also embarked on a very aggressive effort to reduce the overall number of
applications and systems within the Navy inventory.
Q: You mentioned at an AFCEA luncheon in February that the fiscal year 2013 cost estimate
for information technology is $11 billion; what does that include?
A: This was for the Department of Navy, not [just] Navy. There has not been any new money applied; the increase reflects a more accurate reporting of IT spending based on rules established by FMB (Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Budget).
Q: Regarding the 25 percent reduction in IT costs that CNO Adm. Greenert directed for FY13, will it be applied to the $11 billion estimate?
A: Yes, in the areas mentioned in the first question and possibly more. This will be determined after the sequestration and CR (continuing resolution) matters are resolved.
Q: You indicated at the AFCEA luncheon that there are more than 210 Navy data centers
maintaining 302 legacy and excepted networks and servers and applications that were recently discovered, which were thought to have been consolidated under the NMCI, and there is little idea of the exact expenses of these operations. Why is that?
A: Navy has previously adopted a decentralized approach to IT execution. As a result, the Echelon IIs and IIIs [commands] established capability to support their internal environments vice aligning to the enterprise, and it resulted in duplication in many areas. Point of clarification: the excepted networks include our medical and RDT&E (research, development, test
and evaluation) networks which are not, nor were they intended to be part of the enterprise. These are special environments, and we will consolidate within the Defense Department enterprise network environment as appropriate.
Q: What will be the process to consolidate these newly discovered IT assets since Adm.
Greenert wants them to be migrated by 2014?
A: Legacy/excepted networks are now under review by the Navy Enterprise
Information Technology Guidance Board (NEIGB). As such, all legacy/excepted network owners (less medical and RDT&E) are presenting rationale as to why these networks should be retained and not migrated into the enterprise — the Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN) or One-Net. Thus far, the NEIGB has determined over 75 percent will be migrated into the Navy Marine Corps Intranet/NGEN due to maturation of the capability in the past seven years. This eliminates many of the Echelon II's previous concerns about the enterprise.
Q: How would you rate the success of the data center consolidation efforts across the Navy so far?
A: Good. Our most significant challenges thus far have been the identification
of the total number of servers on-site and the use of these servers; end of life software; total number of circuits used at the site, and total number of personnel on-site involved in data center
management, operations, etc.
Q: In setting up the new Navy enterprise data centers, is the Navy using a model that will also fit within the DoD’s plan for data centers, and does the Navy have an efficiency target for how many centers will be needed and the costs to operate, including manpower, security and energy?
A: Yes, the overall Navy plan does fit into the DoD plan which is aligned to the Joint Information Environment and the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative. We have not yet released the total number for our end-state as it is pending approval with the VCNO and ASN RDA (Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition). The final result for the
end-state does account for manpower, security and energy, as well as other factors, such as transport and bandwidth.
Q: Consolidating the data centers offers a chance to innovate and possibly save more money in the long term — are there funds available to take advantage of this opportunity?
A: During FY11, when the U.S. Navy was directed to close and consolidate data
centers, we allocated a percentage of funds for the actual effort which includes incorporating new technology in a cloud. Our initial plan is to migrate to an Infrastructure as a Service environment with future goals and efforts migrating to [a] Software as a Service [delivery model].
Q: You talked about an IT asset management tool to give commands a better way to manage
their software licenses since this is another area that can achieve significant cost savings. Can you
explain how the tool would work?
A: An IT asset management tool provides a critical component to not only data
center consolidation but all application rationalization. It provides us data on the frequency of the use of a software product and a application; number of users; ability to shift software licenses which are not used; identify trends relative to software and hardware use and challenges; security/IA issues; [ability to] plan for future procurements of hardware and software, and visibility into ensuring our IT spend aligns with the commodity use.
Q: Can you talk about long-range plans for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of
Navy business IT systems?
A: Yes, as we prepare to implement the CNO’s mandate for implementing a
reduction of our overall IT spending, we will be establishing more governance in various areas such as IT procurements for contractor support services; hardware, enterprise software licensing, new capability development, portals for collaboration and websites, as well as streamlining the Echelon II command information officers reporting under the DDCIO-Navy. We have several others we are considering; however, these have not been vetted and approved by Navy leadership, so release of this information at this time is premature.
Q: As the representative of the DON Deputy CIO (Navy), is there an end-state for business IT systems that you envision?
A: Yes. I envision an end-state that allows for the seamless exchange of data to our personnel globally using new technology which reduces our requirements for hardware and facilities, yet delivers the information rapidly, securely, and without any interruption from our adversaries.