Claudia Linnens and the NAVSEA eTaskerTeam receiving a DON eGov award from RearAdm. Robert Reilly.Engineering Command Team, through establishingstandards and applying thosestandards in a rigorous decision process,reduced its portfolio <strong>of</strong> applications fromover 33,000 to 796 to greatly ease NMCItransition. To date, four other Echelon IIcommands have applied NAVFAC’s methodologyfor their rationalization and portfolioefforts.Joint Expeditionary Warfare LogisticsSystem (JEWLS). JEWLS, developed inpartnership among the Naval FacilitiesExpeditionary Logistics Center, the NavalFacilities Engineering Service Center andthe DON eBusiness Operations Office,integrates <strong>Navy</strong> legacy logistics systemswith the Marine Corps’ Common LogisticsCommand & Control System in support <strong>of</strong>the Naval Construction Forces. The endresult is improved visibility <strong>of</strong> personnel,supplies, equipment inventory informationand equipment readiness status across thebattlespace.Speed to Capability Approval, Managementand Planning Process (SCAMP).The SCAMP Team, composed <strong>of</strong>representatives from PEO C4I and Space,SPAWAR and the DON eBusiness OperationsOffice, reengineered an overarchingbusiness process that includes standards,guidance and a Web-based supportingtoolset. The first set <strong>of</strong> projects to use theSCAMP process were approved, on average,41.5 percent more quickly than the existingnorm, very close to its goal <strong>of</strong> reducing thetime to field information system upgradesand implementations by 50 percent.32CHIPS Dedicated to Sharing <strong>Information</strong> - Technology - Experience
SPAWAR Charleston CompletesLargest DoD Web Site Consolidationthere are about 1,200 authors and editorsthat update pages daily.Capt. Mark Krause, the chief information<strong>of</strong>ficer for the CNRF, spearheaded theconsolidation effort and outlined severalsignificant requirements SPAWAR had tomeet. First, the project had to be finishedwithin four months, secondly, all 550 siteshad to be consolidated.By Tonya LobbestaelThe Commander <strong>Navy</strong> Reserve Force(CNRF) has a new Web site based on Micros<strong>of</strong>t’sContent Management Server (CMS).The site was designed to consolidate over550 Reserve Web sites scattered acrossthe country. According to Micros<strong>of</strong>t, it isthe largest <strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> Defense (DoD)implementation <strong>of</strong> CMS.SPAWAR Systems Center Charlestonworked together with the <strong>Navy</strong> ReserveForce to field the new Web site and setout to solve a myriad <strong>of</strong> problems associatedwith the existing Web sites.Can you imagine trying to search 550 individualWeb sites for information or thecost <strong>of</strong> maintaining the hardware, s<strong>of</strong>tware,security and training required to operateall <strong>of</strong> these sites? Ask Hank Winter,SPAWAR’s System Architect and ProgramManager for the new CMS System.“We not only wanted to save the taxpayermoney, we also wanted to make it easyfor the Force to get information out ontothe Web site easily.” The Force now has aconsolidated source <strong>of</strong> information or a“one-stop-shop” and presents a single organizationalidentity that helps both thepublic and the <strong>Navy</strong> Reservist.With 550 individual Web sites making upthe Reserve Force Web Enterprise, it wasclear that a cost savings would be realizedearly on by consolidating security, search,labor, training and equipment. It is estimatedthat the <strong>Navy</strong> Reserve Force enjoysan annual cost savings <strong>of</strong> over $9 millioneach year by using the new CMS system.The <strong>Navy</strong> Reserve Web Site (NRWS) is atwo-tiered public and private networkthat incorporates a public side that is accessibleto anyone through the Internetand a private side that is accessible onlyto members <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Navy</strong> Reserve Force viaa secure login.The site has a capacity <strong>of</strong> supporting 3,000commands and is currently supportingover 640 commands and 65,000 privatesubscribers. According to Winter, the siteis busy. In the past six months, the site haslogged over 640,000,000 page views.“We are also trying to make it as easy aspossible to access the site while maintaininga high security posture. Recently, wehave added a Common Access Card (CAC)sign-in where users only have to presenttheir CAC certificate to sign on to the site.The CAC PIN is easier to remember thancomplex passwords and difficult user IDs,”says Winter.The CMS was designed with each <strong>Navy</strong>Reserve Center and unit in mind. Eachcommand has content authors and editorsthat create their own pages and contentusing common <strong>Navy</strong> Marine CorpsIntranet (NMCI) desktop tools such as Micros<strong>of</strong>tWord. No programming or HTMLskills are required. Users just cut, copy andpaste into the online template.The old way <strong>of</strong> doing business requiredthat content owners rely on a webmasterto post their information. “There couldbe a significant bottleneck because usershad to rely on a single individual topost the information. Sometimes, the interpretation<strong>of</strong> this information could bejumbled in the process,” says Winter.The current system has really empowereddoctors, aviators and others to managetheir content. There are also checks andbalances because each command musthave an editor who approves a page priorto posting and a command administratorwho validates user accounts. CurrentlyInitially, Winter felt the task might beoverwhelming because his team consists<strong>of</strong> himself and two contractors. “Havingsuch a small team and a short deliveryschedule pushed us to automate as muchas possible and caused our thought processesto be more creative to save both laborand time. SSC Charleston initially hadto architect the equipment, modify anddevelop s<strong>of</strong>tware, and test and evaluatethe NRWS to field it in such a short timeframe,” says Winter.According to Winter, there were two keysto the successful launch <strong>of</strong> the site. Bothcontractors on the team, Luis Vega andRichard Floyd <strong>of</strong> CSSI Inc., are Micros<strong>of</strong>tCertified Application Developers and aretrained to meet the development challengesthat lay ahead. The other key wasbringing Micros<strong>of</strong>t in as a consultant atthe beginning <strong>of</strong> the project to assist withimplementation <strong>of</strong> the CMS.A major upgrade that included hardwareand s<strong>of</strong>tware upgrades, security enhancementsand significant design changes wascompleted in May 2004. The site is hostedon a fault-tolerant server farm comprised <strong>of</strong>18 servers and a Google Search Appliance.The system now uses Micros<strong>of</strong>t’s .NETFramework which allows future building<strong>of</strong> applications that can be tied intothe CMS system. The Reserves also establisheda centralized help desk that isoperated by reservists. SSC Charlestonprovides technical support. Future plansinclude moving the entire system to theNMCI within the next several years andto transfer responsibility for NRWS to theCNRF Web Services Team.Ms. Lobbestal is the former editor <strong>of</strong> theSPAWAR Charleston Chronicle. Hank Winteris the SPAWAR System Architect and ProgramManager for the CMS System.CHIPS Jan-Mar 2005 33
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