DIMHRS goes to development

The Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System (DIMHRS) passed the critical design review last year and the multimillion-dollar program now goes into the development phase, according to the DIMHRS Web site.

Personnel at Northrop Grumman’s Information Technology business unit successfully demonstrated in the review that PeopleSoft software could work for DIMHRS. They also went through 37 scenarios in which the software covered a warfighter from accession to retirement, according to the statement.

“The Joint Program Manager approved the design phase of DIMHRS, allowing the program to move into the development phase of the systems life cycle,” according to the statement.

DOD officials awarded a $281 million contract in 2003 to Northrop Grumman to develop and implement the world’s largest personnel and pay system using commercial software from PeopleSoft.

The critical design review for DIMHRS occurred in November 2004 at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command’s System Center in New Orleans. It involved confirming that the design of DIMHRS satisfies system requirements and ensuring it could move to the development phase, according to the statement.

“This review allowed stakeholders and users of DIMHRS to have visibility into the design of the complete system and how it will support the defense personnel and pay business,” the statement reads.

Last August, DOD and Northrop Grumman officials announced they would delay DIMHRS’s critical design review to meet with officials and employees in the services and agencies to explain how the project works in an attempt to build confidence and system approval. In February, officials at the Government Accountability Office issued a report calling for DOD to improve the management of DIMHRS by strengthening requirements-management processes and adopting an integrated approach to program management.