DOD kicks off a departmentwide HR systems project

The Defense Department is moving forward with the development of a payroll and personnel system for the military’s active and reserve units that will replace dozens of legacy systems.DOD issued a draft request for proposals Jan. 3 to solicit industry’s feedback on a funding strategy for the Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System—touted as one of the world’s largest human resources systems. After accepting initial bids, the department said it would narrow the field to three finalists. The three would compete in a fly-off based on their development of detailed requirements.The contract for a systems integrator could be awarded as early as this summer, DOD officials said.“We are replacing 88 legacy personnel and pay systems across the services,” said Navy Capt. Valerie Carpenter, the joint program manager for DIMHRS. Carpenter gave an update on the system at a Navy-Marine Corps Intranet press briefing yesterday. “This provides a single database.”Last spring, the Navy Space and Warfare Systems Command, the contracting agency for DIMHRS, selected software from PeopleSoft Inc. of Pleasanton, Calif. Carpenter declined to say how much the system would cost, but analysts have previously estimated that DOD will spend between $500 million and $1 billion to develop DIMHRS.The Army has volunteered to be the first service branch to deploy DIMHRS, by the spring of 2004. Carpenter said DIMHRS would be in operation throughout the services by the end of 2006.