Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army, a project office handling acquisition programs related to human capital solutions for the U.S. Army, held its first Broadcast to Industry event in October.
The event, which took place virtually and was attended by IPPS-A leaders and over 200 people, sought to help businesses understand how they can support the project office, according to a news article posted Monday on the Program Executive Office Enterprise website.
Open APIs
Speakers tackled a variety of topics, including IPPS-A’s embracing of modern software acquisition practices, the office’s adoption of return-on-investment thinking, a shift to government-owned continuous integration/continuous delivery pipelines and a need for open application programming interfaces, a.k.a. open APIs.
Commenting on the API requirement, IPPS-A Project Manager Col. Matthew Paul said, “I have 67 unique system interface agreements. It is really hard to manage, and it creates a lot of overhead.” He went on to underscore the need to pivot to unified data reference architecture and establish an API strategy.
Flexible Requirements
Paul also discussed the need for flexibility in acquisition requirements, as in the case of the Accessions Information Environment program, which delivers a defense business system used by recruiters for soldier enlistment.
“Every three months, we revisit the requirements and our backlog. And we rack and stack and change our priorities based on user feedback and the evolving mission,” the project manager said.
Modular Contracts
In line with requirement flexibility, Paul said modular contract structures are also necessary, as illustrated by IPPS-A’s Army Military Pay. The contract “is structured around three-month increments, with planning at the front end and a retrospective at the back end, with two-week sprints in between. Within the three-month period, we are constantly evaluating contractor performance. And every three months, we reprioritize as necessary. The intent is to always remain centered around customer value,” the project manager explained.
Better User Experience
Another key focus for IPPS-A is better software user experience. Paul said customers become frustrated when software requires too many steps or even formal training to operate proficiently. Enhancing user experience can be achieved via more intuitive interfaces and artificial intelligence.
Communicating With Industry Partners
IPPS-A Deputy Project Manager Patrick McKinney, who was also part of the Broadcast to Industry event, said partners in industry are critical to his organization’s success. “We want you to better understand our requirements, so you are better equipped to respond to our requests for proposals,” he added.
For his part, Paul his commitment to communicate with industry partners “early and often” regarding new business opportunities, adding, “My goal is to provide you with a minimum of 18-months’ notice before we embark on a new procurement action, so you can align your bid-and-proposal resources.”
