Army logistics fail, a cyber institute hire, a CIO retirement and more

Army's logistics system fails DOD IG audit test

The Army's enterprise system for logistics and finances is not meeting guidance set by the departments of Treasury and Defense for providing reliable financial information and audit readiness, said a DOD Inspector General audit released Sept. 3.

The $725.7 million Global Combat Support System, which the Army began developing in 1997 and, six years later, moved to an SAP enterprise system, still has "significant obstacles to overcome" if it is to comply with federal law and meet auditability deadlines for fiscal years 2014 and 2017, the audit said.

The GCSS's poor compliance score is partly explained by the fact that DOD and Army management did not have annual reviews and other measures in place to ensure compliance, the auditors found.

University of Alabama taps former top DOD official to head cyber institute

The University of Alabama named Reginald Hyde, a former top Defense Department official, to head its cybersecurity institute. Hyde, a former deputy undersecretary for intelligence and security, retired last year from a government career that also included a stretch as a Central Intelligence Agency officer.

The university's nascent Cyber Institute will facilitate research and education on issues like big data, digital forensics and embedded systems.

"The Cyber Institute and Reg Hyde's leadership will propel not only the university's priorities, but our collaborative interactions across our state and nationally," Carl Pinkert, the university's vice president for research, said in a statement.

Acting Treasury CIO retires

Mike Parker, the Treasury Department's acting CIO, has retired.

Parker came to the Treasury in December 2011 as deputy CIO and assumed the acting CIO role in June when CIO Robyn East left Treasury after three years.

Prior to that, Parker was at the IRS, where he was the associate CIO for the IT strategy and planning organization at IRS. During his 22 years at the IRS, he held several executive positions, including director of capital planning and investment control and director of IT security.

Parker's last day on the job was Aug. 26. Treasury did not respond to requests for comment on who would succeed him.

OASIS up and running

Both pieces of the General Services Administration's $60 billion One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services contracting vehicle are now officially open for business.

On Sept. 3, the GSA issued a notice to proceed for OASIS, the agency's general management consulting, logistics, engineering, scientific, financial, and program management services contract, and its 100 percent small business set-aside counterpart, OASIS SB.

"OASIS and OASIS SB have already become the solutions of choice for some of our customers," Tom Sharpe, commissioner of GSA's Federal Acquisition Service, said in a statement. "These solutions have great potential to provide agencies with more flexible full-service contract vehicle options while driving down costs for the American taxpayer."

Accenture subsidiary awarded Army enterprise planning system contracts

Accenture Federal Services will provide upkeep on the Army's enterprise resource planning system in two contracts worth a combined $53.1 million.

AFS, a subsidiary of consulting giant Accenture, deployed the General Fund Enterprise Business System in 2012. GFEBS consolidated the Army's scores of legacy financial management and real property systems into a central system of record for the Army General Fund, said the subsidiary, which has offices in Arlington, Va.

One of the two contracts AFS announced Sept. 3, worth an estimated $42 million, is for maintenance and daily support for project management and application development, among other GFEBS functions. The other, $11.1-million contract is for training and technical support related to the enterprise planning system at Army bases.

GFEBS serves more than 52,000 users in 227 locations around the globe, AFS added.