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Empowering the Information Systems Technicianand Information Professional Workforcewith an ITIL FrameworkBy Lt. Cmdr. David T. Purkiss"Network-centric warfare," "NetOps"and "managing the Global InformationGrid as a weapon system" — for manythese are still little more than buzzwordsor catchphrases. For Navy communicators,they are beginning to become actualconcepts. Yet, like the six blind men in thefamous Indian legend each describing anelephant very differently, defining suchconcepts depends largely on one’s perspective,and few, if any, are positionedto see and understand the entire pictureclearly.The challenges and solutions of network-centricwarfare, as viewed by variouscommands, engineers, numberedfleet staffs, operational commanders,deckplate operators and technicians; orwatchstanders on ship or shore, are asvaried as the people and their roles.However, most can agree on at leastthree points. First, delivery and support ofsecure and reliable end-to-end informationservices across the Navy EnterpriseNetwork is extraordinarily complex andfraught with a myriad of interdependenciesand daunting challenges.Second, we in the Information Professionaland Information Systems Techniciancommunities are among the corecommunities entrusted to transformthese concepts into reality.Finally, and most importantly, we can— and must — do better.Technology or ProcessSituational awareness, or a networkcommon operational picture (NetCOP),to share the health and status of the Navynetwork is part of the solution set receivinga lot of focus today. Unfortunately, toomany within our community are searchingfor some whiz-bang tool or magicaltechnology to achieve this "solution."But delivering a new tool or technologyand more information to the warfighterdoes not necessarily provide additionalcapability, and could actually compoundan already complex problem.As history has shown, delivering actionableinformation to the warfighterat the right time and place in a meaningfulway is a problem littered with lessonsfrom modern warfare.For example, on Dec. 7, 1941, the latesttechnology of the day worked perfectly,yet failed to produce a meaningful capability.The SCR-270B Ground Mobile RadarStation on Opana Peak on the North Shoreof Oahu detected the in-bound Japaneseattack force a full 36 minutes before thefirst bombs hit.Radar operators detected and dutifullyreported the information to the CommunicationsCenter at Fort Shafter Honolulu,Hawaii. That the technology performedflawlessly is an almost forgotten detail,except to the engineering community.From its perspective, the SCR-270B radarwas a marvel achievement, and the Opanasite was later recognized by the IEEE-USA,an organizational unit of the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers, andmemorialized with a National Historic Siteplaque just off Kamehameha Highwaynear Turtle Bay.Yet, not a single commander, watchofficer, Sailor, Soldier, Airman, or anyonewho could have come to the island’s defense,was armed with the informationthat could have prevented the death of atleast some of the thousands of lives thatwere lost that day.The lesson for us modern-day net-centricwarriors is that simply delivering technologythat performs to “specs” does notempower the warfighter without executinga capable and disciplined “process”that reliably delivers meaningful informa-tion to the right place — at the right time— to the right people. In short, it’s the process,stupid — not the technology.As the communications officer forNaval Computer and TelecommunicationsArea Master Station Pacific (NCTAMSPAC), my particular piece of the elephantwas IT service support to the fleet: managingshore-to-ship connectivity to includesatellite activations, the transportlayer, networking and IP services.Over my 22 years in the Navy, technologyhas changed drastically andconstantly, and the pace is quickeningexponentially, yet our operational processesand management methods in thecommunications world are largely stuckin the 1950s in which our primary modeof operation is to wait until an operationswatchstander attempts to use a circuit orinformation service that is unavailable, orworse yet, a distant end unit detects anoutage and reports the problem usingthe slowest and most inefficient methodavailable.Not only is this a purely reactive process,it is a very slow one that relies on anantiquated one-way communication flowmodel using naval message traffic as the"enabling technology."It is only through the extreme dedicationand sheer determination of ourSailors that the Navy successfully communicatesusing technology that spans50 years and business processes that areeven older. Fortunately, for all of us, andfor the sake of our hardworking Sailors,there is a better way.ITIL is Tried and TrueThe Information Technology InfrastructureLibrary (ITIL) is a set of guidesand techniques for managing an organization’sIT infrastructure, development,operations and maintenance in concertwith the business objectives of theorganization.Developed in 1992, and maintainedby the United Kingdom’s Office of GovernmentCommerce, ITIL was intendedto serve as a set of standards that serviceproviders had to follow to deliver IT servicesto the British government. After itsinception, public companies worldwidequickly realized its benefits and implementedparts of ITIL in their internal ITdepartments.Since then, ITIL has become an increasinglyaccepted method of managing IT16 CHIPS www.chips.navy.mil Dedicated to Sharing Information - Technology - Experience
Technology has changed dramaticallyin naval communications, yetimprovements to operationalprocesses and businesstransformation lag behind technologyimprovements.services because it provides a detaileddescription of a number of important ITpractices with comprehensive checklists,tasks and procedures that can be tailoredto fit any IT organization.Each interrelated process follows a disciplinedPlan-Do-Check-Act model thatfacilitates monitoring, reporting, metricsand continuous process improvement.ITIL easily takes advantage of enablingautomation and technology when implementedas an integral componentof specific process steps, procedures orfunctions.ITIL is tried and true; it is the processmodel for thousands of organizationsincluding: Microsoft, IBM, EDS, Hewlett-Packard, Capital One and the U.S Army, toname a few.The primary advantage of ITIL is that itconsists of open source information, simplya collection, or library, of industry bestpractices, easily adaptable to any environment,and developed to meet specific ITservice needs and goals.At its core, the ITIL process-oriented approachrequires an understanding of thebusiness requirements, then designing asolution to meet those requirements.The solution designed uses ITIL descriptionsadapted to specific environments.The approach is not to select atechnology or tool and build a process,but rather to:Understand business needs andrequirements;Design the organization and processworkflow;Define and specify required toolsand procedures; and Select and implement tools.The potential for a disciplined approachto IT service management is capturingattention in Navy IP officer circlesas a possible solution to long-standing ITservice challenges in delivering productsto the fleet. Significant grassroots effortsPearl Harbor, Hawaii(Aug. 22, 2006) -Secretary of the Navy,the Honorable Dr.Donald C. Winter, greetsIT3 Brent Jackson duringa visit to NCTAMS PAC.NCTAMS PAC manages,operates and maintainsdefense communicationsystem and navaltelecommunicationsystem assets by offeringa full range of automateddata processing andinformation resourceservices. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class James E. Foehl.are being pursued at NCTAMS Atlanticand Pacific in the West and East RegionalNetwork Operations and Security Centers(RNOSC) and other pockets within theNavy.Defining the ProblemThere are several compelling reasonsto use the ITIL approach. The Navy’s ITand IP workforce are stressed by four divergentdrivers:• Reduced supply – Five years of costcuttingmeasures have downsized theshore command, control, communications,computers and intelligence (C4I) infrastructure;consolidated and closed facilities;and cut shore IT manning in half.• Increased demand – Steady growthin demand and reliance on C4I capacityand greater complexity in providing C4Iproducts.• Greater risk and cost of failure – Growingcapabilities by our adversaries toexploit C4I infrastructure vulnerabilitiesand attack our networks create potentialrisks of compromising our most valuableweapon and principal competitive advantage:information superiority.• No appreciable maturation of processes– Focus on technology and systems hasfailed to improve IT service delivery andsupport.Technology has changed dramaticallyin naval communications, yet improvementsto operational processes and businesstransformation lag behind technologyimprovements. As a result of thesefactors, the IT and IP workforce are nowworking harder instead of smarter, andleveraging technology as a force-multiplyingsolution is falling short of expectations.Further, C4I services to the fleetoften fail to meet loosely defined requirementsor fleet expectations.New technology and systems are beinginstalled at a breakneck pace. However,not all reach initial operational capabilityon schedule, and because shore installationsare not aligned with ship installationschedules, few legacy systems arebeing removed or replaced from shore.This creates an ever-broadening rangeof complexity in technologies and thesheer number of systems for NCTAMS tosupport. For example, there are four AutomatedDigital Network System (ADNS)variants and nine different messagingsystems supported by NCTAMS today.Business practices and operational processesare primarily reactive following thetraditional communicator model of waitingfor the user to report a problem.The fleet continues to rely on troublereports, Communications Spot (COM-SPOT) naval messages, as the only “official”method of reporting, trackingand collaborating on communicationsand network outages. This slow reactivemethod largely precludes the use of automation,data mining and metrics analysisfor problem management and processimprovement.In 2005, Naval Network Warfare Command(NETWARCOM) sponsored a studyof afloat and shore IT service managementprocesses, conducted by a well-knownconsulting group. Results showed:• Few documented or repeatable processesexist on shore or ships.• Multiple groups work independentlyCHIPS October – December 2008 17
Page 2 and 3: CHIPS October - December 2008Volume
Page 4 and 5: Editor’s NotebookThis issue we fe
Page 6 and 7: Talking with Rear Admiral Wendi B.
Page 8 and 9: in less of a production role and mo
Page 10 and 11: "The Navy has conducted irregular w
Page 12 and 13: and Preventive Medicine; and Joint
Page 14 and 15: We are also working on patient trac
Page 18 and 19: "The good thing about the ENMS syst
Page 20 and 21: “We Will Never Forget”Pentagon
Page 22 and 23: SSC Atlantic Commissioned in Charle
Page 24 and 25: SSC Pacific’s Josh CaplanReceives
Page 26 and 27: Welcome to SSC Atlantic’s New Orl
Page 28 and 29: SSC Atlantic sites partner to provi
Page 30 and 31: Presenting SSC Pacific: A new name
Page 32 and 33: constraints associated with smaller
Page 34 and 35: End-to-End Systems Engineering LabS
Page 36 and 37: SSC Norfolk Workforce Excellence Co
Page 38 and 39: DON DIACAP TransitionTransitioning
Page 40 and 41: CAST requirements include the abili
Page 42 and 43: Success Stories from Naval Surface
Page 44 and 45: SWE Takes Action in Supportof Surfa
Page 46 and 47: of ownership of the process stalled
Page 48 and 49: Data as a ServiceThe new paradigm f
Page 50 and 51: encouraging the reuse of informatio
Page 52 and 53: Operationalizing Military Support t
Page 54 and 55: DoD ESI Celebrates its 10th Anniver
Page 56 and 57: and conditions pre-negotiated with
Page 58 and 59: Navy Ship-to-Shore via Wireless Con
Page 60 and 61: Navy Warfare Training SystemBy U.S.
Page 62 and 63: endeavor and worth the coordination
Page 64 and 65: Tackling one of the most critical a
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5. Which of the following is the mo
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MercuryMercury Software - Provides
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Office SystemsAdobeAdobe Products -
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