Naval command sets sights on digital future

Next January, the Naval Sea Systems Command is slated to move its headquarters from Crystal City, Va., to the Washington Navy Yard. But rather than move paper-filled file drawers across the Potomac River, the command has decided to convert the paper files into electronic documents.

To go totally digital, the command, known as NAVSEA, consolidated all its disparate document management programs into a single corporate software licensing deal with Oracle Corp.-a move that will save $60 million over the next five years.

"It's a significant price savings," said Dave Carder, NAVSEA's deputy chief information officer for information technology capital planning and investment.

NAVSEA uses Oracle products in a variety of applications, such as running logistics databases and managing financial documents. The new Corporate Document Management System, which will manage the storage of NAVSEA's new electronic documents, relies on Oracle for its back-end databases.

"NAVSEA over the course of its history has been more of a federation rather than a corporation," noted Bill Pruett, NAVSEA's principal deputy CIO. Now the office of the CIO is taking control of information technology purchasing and management for the command's various program offices. "We decided that NAVSEA as a whole had such a large investment in Oracle already that it might be useful to do business a bit differently," Pruett said.

"We're attempting to link our information technology investments more to the mission," Carder added.

Beyond managing IT centrally, NAVSEA is also preparing for the implementation of the proposed Navy Marine Corps Intranet. "We're not in too bad a shape to adopt NMCI practices," Pruett said. "We have a single help desk that serves 4,500 people here at NAVSEA headquarters and we've been going more and more toward a central IT infrastructure."

Before the intranet project took off, NAVSEA had drafted a request for proposals for desktop and technical support outsourcing under the General Service's Administration's seat management contract.

"We entertained going to GSA's seat management contract, but NMCI came along and we signed up for it instead," Pruett said. "We will be prepared to go to NMCI when it finally happens and are going to outsource those things that are not inherently governmental."