Recapitalizing the Navy A Strategy for Managing the Infrastructure (1998) / Chapter Skim
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3 A Strategy for Managing the Infrastructure
3 A Strategy for Managing the Infrastructure
Pages 49-81
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From page 49... ...
1The committee's finding that the Navy lacks an overall strategy is similar to a conclusion reached by the GAO in its investigation of the Department of Defense infrastructure. See the following reports: U.S.
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From page 50... ...
How Is It to Be Achieved? The objective can be achieved only by changing the Navy's business structure and modes of providing operational support specifically, by adopting modern enterprise process technology and practices; competitive sourcing of as many of the support functions as possible with acceptable risk; learning by doing, so that adjustments can be made to these unfamiliar activities along the way; and building in safeguards against loss of support for the core capabilities during the transformation.
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From page 51... ...
Findings Efforts to date to reduce the cost of the infrastructure (achieved through regionalization, consolidation of functions, personnel and facility downsizing, competitive sourcing, Smart Base initiatives, and so on) have achieved only a small fraction of the resource shifts required to meet the Navy's modernization goals.
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From page 52... ...
The three enablers, discussed below in the context of improving Navy infrastructure productivity, are as follows: · Performance measures, cost management and allocation of resources, · Information technology for infrastructure management, and · Competition.
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From page 53... ...
If the infrastructure is to be reduced to the level that is necessary, it must be understood and accepted by both the users and the leadership that is acceptable for the infrastructure to provide only the minimum quality and quantity of goods and services to satisfy the users' requirements. Finding The current Navy infrastructure vision and strategic plan discussed above may reduce the likelihood of obtaining critical analysis of the value of goods and services provided (e.g., essential services at minimum cost)
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From page 54... ...
Traditionally the Navy has, for the most part, used inputs in determining the performance and requirements of the infrastructure, particularly base operating support. For example, the requirement for funding for real property maintenance is often expressed as a percentage of the current plant value (i.e., real property maintenance "should be funded" at 2 percent of the current plant value)
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From page 55... ...
The committee's primary purpose in discussing the NWCF activities is to make sure that they are included in future Navy efforts to develop and improve measures of output along with mission funding activities. The NWCF activities are providers of a major function of all infrastructure services, and the exclusion of some or all of them from consideration in developing better output measures for the infrastructure would be a major failing.
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From page 56... ...
This system should be based on an integrated set of cost and performance metrics that are developed using f feet user inputs as well as those of service providers. Recommendations · The CNO should put a process in place across the Navy, in each major claimancy and in each region, to develop and maintain output measures for each major function or activity that is provided by the infrastructure.
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From page 57... ...
providing greater visibility regarding the cost of individual NWCF activities, including related overhead costs, and (2) overseeing the development of output measures for NWCF activities, to include giving users of services (major claimants)
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Given at the end of this section are the committee's recommendations for evolving a Navy-wide information plan with the following attributes: · Navy-wide information space (infospace) : defining, creating, and main · Service access: the key to consolidation of infospace-based Navy shore services; and
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From page 59... ...
There must be a standard vehicle for delivery of and access to information and services. It should include not only a network with sufficient connectivity and bandwidth but also a standard information workstation that all service providers can depend on and develop around (i.e., a standard for developers and providers of software applications)
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From page 60... ...
Connectivity. The key goal is that every standard information workstation in the Navy will be electronically connected to every other information workstation and to every information service.
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This means not only technical communications capacity to the end station but also total network throughput. A minimal standard might be that "a 10K Web page can be delivered from any server in the Navy to any information workstation in the Navy in an average of 10 seconds or less." Delivery of a service in 10 seconds is not actually acceptable for interactive work, but it does guarantee some access to everything in the Navy.
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These standard applications help provide for almost instantaneous delivery of manuals, procedures, and training materials. If every information workstation has infospace connectivity and standard WWW browsers and help tools, then electronic publication of materials can become a reality.
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The key is that there be a standard set of capabilities that service providers can test their software against and then depend on. Users need to know that if they have a standard information workstation, they will have access to any of the services offered over the Navywide infospace system.
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From page 64... ...
The technology refresh plan should also provide for the discarding or upgrading of non-compliant and unused applications. When yearly standards are set, service developers are put on notice that within 1 year, 25 percent of the information workstations or Internet capability will no longer support their service and that within 4 years none of the information workstations will.
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From page 65... ...
Otherwise, the costs of supporting large software installations will remove any cost savings that may result from the consolidation. Old-style software methods frequently transferred costs from service providers to IT providers without any real cost savings.
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When human-based services are replaced with networked information-based access to services, trust must be established. Current Navy personnel have clear expectations of the control that geographic proximity and command structure can provide.
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Thus, the committee believes that both the clientserver and Web-based architectures have their own advantages; the Navy will require professional assistance in managing its implementation program. Major Recommendation The Navy should define and implement the concept of a Department of the Navy-wide information space (infospace)
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From page 68... ...
.5 These standards must be performance based and not be a set of technology requirements. Advise the N6 on which Navy-wide site licenses should be negotiated for use on standard information workstations.
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1996. Outsourcing and Competition: Lessons Learned from DOD Commercial Activities Programs, CNA Occasional Paper 23, Center for Naval Analyses, Alexandria, Va., October.
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Clearly the cause for these shortfalls is a major concern because government personnel represent a large fraction of infrastructure costs. Sea-Shore Rotation Policy Constraints Because the policy of reserving shore billets for military personnel after tours at sea places a major constraint on the number of jobs eligible for competition, the committee examined the issue in some depth.
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Although manning practices vary, one should protect only military shore billets that correspond to sea billets that are actually filled by people in pay grades E5 to E9. · The metric covers all E5 billets.
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1992. Personnel Tempo of Operations and Navy Enlisted Retention, Research Memorandum 91-150, Center for Naval Analyses, Alexandria, Va., February.
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1996. Analysis of DoD's Commercial Activities Programs, Research Memorandum 96-63, Center for Naval Analyses, Alexandria, Va., December.
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For example, the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Manpower and Personnel (N1) currently has veto authority over the inclusion of military shore billets.
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Another way to keep some of the military shore billets is for the Navy to include military personnel in their MEO and participate in the competitions. When military positions are now competed, they are automatically converted to civilian positions for the in-house bid.
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Cutting those billets not only reduces shore billets reserved for sailors, but it also cuts into the total number of support personnel needed. Infrastructure efficiencies can reduce the need for facilities and the associated construction costs.
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· Supporting findings: There are still significant opportunities to reduce costs with competitive sourcing. According to the Navy's records, there are 300,000 commercial activity positions (of which 60 percent are civilian)
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shore positions. For example, the Navy includes sea billets normally filled by first-termers to justify shore billets for its careerists.
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From page 79... ...
Major Recommendation The Navy should use competitive sourcing as a preferred approach to selecting the best providers of all support. In this regard, the Navy should establish a cross-functional team under the Assistant Secretary of the Navy/Installation and Environment (ASN/I&E)
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balance the potential gain or loss of skills with the loss in flexibility in accommodating new opportunities for privatization offunctions; (2) strive to obtain better integration of shore duty billet policies with larger Navy programs and competitive sourcing initiatives; (3)
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In improving shore support, the quality of life of Navy personnel and their families will be improved, leading to higher rates of retention and better-trained crews. Overall fleet readiness and combat capability will be improved within given, constrained budget levels.
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