Two programs of the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office Enterprise, or PEO Enterprise, are looking at other PEO Enterprise initiatives for lessons learned and best practices as they prepare to begin the execution phase under the Department of Defense’s Software Acquisition Pathway, or SWP.
The military branch said Monday the Operational Medicine Information Systems-Army, or OMIS-A, at Fort Derick in Maryland and IPPS-A Increment II are sister programs within the PEO Enterprise’s Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army, or IPPS-A, portfolio.
OMIS-A Preparing to Stand Up in SWP
Over the past year, the team responsible for OMIS-A has been implementing Agile processes and preparing to start from the ground up in SWP.
OMIS-A, which seeks to modernize the Army’s electronic health record software capabilities, has completed its cost analysis requirements description and begun creating its cost position, which seeks to explain the financial requirements for implementing its mission in the SWP pathway, according to Angela Price, the program’s operations officer.
Upon completing the cost position, the OMIS-A team will meet with the Army acquisition executive, or AAE, by late April to secure approval to transition the program to the execution phase.
“Right now, we’re getting our documentation staffed and adjudicated with ASA(ALT) [assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology] and working on signature processes,” said Price.
“Overall, with the Army’s move to Agile and ASA(ALT)’s embrace, the timing is good because we’re making all these changes at once. With new memos and guidance coming out weekly, we’re having to embrace the whole Agile methodology. This is not just about software development — We’re having to adapt to changing policies. It’s keeping us sharp. We’re stretching our brains every day,” she added.
IPPS-A Increment II: Delivering Software at the Pace of Relevance
Lt. Col. Ryan Martin, IPPS-A Increment II product manager, said the program has adopted Agile software development practices and started as if it were already operating under the SWP pathway.
“The SWP provides the authorities and programmatic structure to really leverage industry best practices and modern software development techniques, which are critical for delivering value to users at the pace of relevance, especially in a system as complex and sprawling as the Army’s personnel and pay system,” Martin said.
According to the lieutenant colonel, the IPPS-A Inc II team is developing its cost analysis requirements description and plans to work with the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Cost and Economics on the cost position this summer.
The team is scheduled to meet with AAE in December to obtain approval in order to move the IPPS-A Inc II program to SWP’s execution phase.
DOD Secretary’s SWP Memo
In early March, Pete Hegseth, DOD secretary and a 2025 Wash100 awardee, issued a memorandum directing the department to adopt SWP to speed up the development, procurement and delivery of software and other weapons systems to warfighters.
In line with the SWP adoption, the memo titled “Directing Modern Software Acquisition to Maximize Lethality” calls for the Pentagon to align its contracting strategies and maximize its use of contracting authorities, such as the commercial solutions openings process and the other transaction authorities.
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