EWSolutions Enterprise , , Data Governance, Management Case Study Leveraging Existing Investments in Systems, Data and Personnel to Improve Logistics and Supply Chain Management for Defense Operations

Enterprise architecture planning and development, data architecture, metadata management, data governance, and enterprise data integration combined to ensure the success of the world's largest defense logistics and supply chain.

EWSolutions, Inc. 1/25/2017

Developing and Implementing a New Defense Logistics Supply Chain: A Case Study in How EWSolutions Enabled Success for the US Department of Defense

The Department of Defense (DoD) is America's oldest and largest government agency. It employs a civilian force of 742,000, along with over 1.3 million men and women on active duty; it is the United State's largest employer. Another 826,000 people serve in the National Guard and Reserve forces.

The national security depends on defense installations, people, and facilities being in the right place, at the right time, with the right qualities and capacities to protect the security of the and allies. These military service members and civilians operate in every time zone and in every climate. More than 450,000 employees are overseas, both afloat and ashore. This complexity extends to the logistics, communication, and supply chain needed to connect and furnish these employees and dependents with all the required resources (food, clothing, weapons, etc.)

The mission of the US Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of the United States. Fulfilling this mission requires a large variety of resources; securing and delivering those resources to the right place at the right time in the right quantities requires accurate information that comes from complete and valid data. The amount of information that must be available to the right people at the right time to deliver the right resources requires sophisticated data integration across multiple source systems, based on accurate enterprise architecture.

Founded with the American Revolution, in 1775, the United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corps (and War Department in 1789) formed the foundation of the US military. After World War II, the United States Air Force was formed as a service separate from the US Army and incorporated into the newly formed Department of Defense.

The United States Department of Defense continues its mission of service, mission focus, and attention to security for the nation and its citizens and allies. It recognizes that accurate, timely, and well-managed information is a powerful force for good in the world.

Improving supply chain management calls for new enterprise architecture

Over the years, countless processes and systems were created to address logistics and supply chain needs for each operation, for each service branch.

http://www.ewsolutions.com [email protected] © Page 2 Eventually, the Department of Defense (DoD) had at least 3,000 systems that were responsible for managing the delivery supply chain that controlled the acquisition and distribution of food, clothing, water, weapons, ammunition, equipment parts, etc…during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"The military does not require new systems; just connections among existing ones," said Lt. General Claude Christianson, the Army's deputy chief of staff for logistics. He said that DoD officials should define an architecture and adopt information technologies and principles used successfully to track supplies. Both Christianson and an Assistant Secretary of Defense indicated there was a heightened sense of urgency and importance for the success of this initiative.

Therefore, DoD explored the need for an enterprise approach to architecture, especially data architecture; to metadata management, to enable identification of each item / category to be tracked and its route; and data integration, to facilitate aggregating relevant processes and files from various existing systems.

The existing state of DoD's supply chain data was a heterogeneous collection of data across many diverse sources at numerous locations, most without the relevant metadata attached. This diversity made any architectural and / or integration analysis extremely difficult, but it had to be done since American soldiers' lives depended upon the results.

Without the in-house expertise to accomplish the DoD's objectives, the agency knew they had to partner with leading practitioners of data management.

As described in an article written in Federal Computer Week, the Department of Defense elected to retain industry leader EWSolutions and SAIC since DoD recognized the need for a sustainable enterprise architecture and data integration built with proven and technologies. EWSolutions and its expert consultants led the DoD's logistics requirements discovery sessions, and created the design and development of an enterprise architecture that included approaches for data integration, enterprise data architecture, and metadata management. EWSolutions’ team of experienced top-level strategists was able to provide the with exemplary advice, guidance, planning and execution strategies and recommendations for improvement in all the identified data management areas. The president of EWSolutions, David P. Marco, was an integral part of the design team, and led the implementation efforts.

Additionally, EWSolutions performed a comprehensive assessment of the current commercial that would satisfy the stated logistics supply chain requirements and architecture, and led the proof-of-concept tests for a small selection of products. EWSolutions supported the purchase of the selected software and led the implementation team.

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EWSolutions' consultants brought outstanding credentials and dedication to the partnership while also offering:  Exceptional experience in all facets of enterprise architecture assessment and implementation  Exceptional experience in all areas of data integration assessment, data architecture, data governance, and data integration  Exceptional experience in all areas of metadata strategy development, technical metadata architecture metadata project management and metadata integration  Sophisticated interpersonal communication skill for delivering knowledge transfer  Thorough understanding of enterprise data management best practices and industry standards, especially in the areas of data management strategy, data architecture, metadata management, enterprise architecture, data integration, and the project management in these areas  The invaluable ability to view the technology from the business person's perspective (government and military professionals)

Several points were noted in the Federal Computer Week article as a critical factor in the success of the Department of Defense supply / logistics effort.

With the superior guidance of EWSolutions in the identified areas of need, with clearly defined recommendations for approaches to each challenge, and a series of well-managed project plans the following goals were met: 1. Unifying and enabling improved resource allocation supporting current varied data sources into an integrated stream, based on requirements 2. Managing existing applications based on an approved enterprise architecture 3. Identifying, documenting, and managing appropriate metadata for each item at each source and target

Using senior resources from EWSolutions , DOD was able to meet all the defined goals in the specified period.

Additionally, EWSolutions expertly guided the DoD team in the use of its industry leading M3sm methodology for metadata management. The results of this methodology implementation included:  Analysis of M3sm against current metadata management activities and practices at the Department of Defense's logistics and supply environment http://www.ewsolutions.com [email protected] © Page 4  Assessment of gaps between DoD's metadata management practices and industry proven practices in M3sm  Incorporation of M3sm stages, phases, activities, templates into an enterprise approach for managing metadata, especially for the data integration needed in data integration and supply chain management  Incorporation of new data governance processes that support improved metadata management. These processes came from the use of EWSolutions industry leading G3sm methodology for data governance management

Methodologies enable more rapid assessment, development and implementation through best practices

EWSolutions’ M3sm methodology for Metadata Management is a highly customizable, iterative, and workflow- oriented methodology designed to help your organization achieve enterprise metadata management success effectively. With hundreds of fine-grained tasks with clear objectives, success factors, and responsible parties identified, M3sm enables the development of a managed metadata environment with the proper processes, people, and technologies.

The methodology is based on EWSolutions’ consultants many years of helping clients successfully realize outstanding benefit from their metadata management efforts. M3sm underscores EWSolutions’ numerous award-winning efforts and thought-leading practices and supports integration with Enterprise Information Management (EIM), data governance, and data warehouse / business intelligence (DW/BI) efforts. M3sm is a self-sustaining, iterative, and customizable methodology that helps to realize continuous return on investment (ROI) by identifying new business opportunities, improving efficiencies, and increased data quality through a metadata management program.

M3sm Methodology Critical Points: With highly customizable task narratives, templates, and examples, M3sm allows any organization to fit the methodology to its efforts, not the other way around. The methodology adds value to a metadata program without adding unnecessary complexity or unjustified efforts.

An iterative methodology with overlapping phases and activities, M3sm helps an organization anticipate and reduce risks within and across phases, providing strong validation of scope and results, while efficiently utilizing all resources, including time, personnel, funds, and effort. http://www.ewsolutions.com [email protected] © Page 5

The M3sm workflow provides discipline and manageability to any metadata management program. Developing a managed metadata environment can be very complex – using the M3sm methodology breaks the effort into manageable, measurable tasks to know the current state, target state, and next steps. With its clear success criteria and best-practice estimates, the methodology helps an organization achieve discipline and increase visibility to assess progress and identify needed adjustments efficiently and effectively.

Additionally, the Department of Defense incorporated several aspects of EWSolutions ' data governance methodology, G3sm the industry's only comprehensive, iterative, scalable and flexible approach to developing and managing the complex discipline of data governance and stewardship. Combining the strategic, organizational and policy activities of data governance with the tactical and operational tasks of data stewardship, including maintenance, G3sm provides all the details any organization needs to ensure an effective implementation of the data governance process. Each stage defines the continuing parallel steps and iterative cycles necessary to deliver successful data governance and stewardship implementations. An organization can elect to implement both data governance and data stewardship, or choose to focus on one (data governance or data stewardship) without sacrificing any methodology continuity.

G3sm Methodology Critical Points: Including almost 140 narratives with additional templates, G3sm enables every organization to design, implement and maintain a successful data governance and data stewardship program regardless of the organization's scale or industry. These templates ensure that best practices and industry standards are followed for each activity and process throughout the methodology.

EWSolutions' unique, cookbook approach allows an organization to advance through each phase of the methodology at its own pace, adapting the methodology as needed while saving time and money by using a proven structure and plan for data governance and data stewardship.

Significant Accomplishments Provide Continuing Progress for DoD

The Department of Defense required increased data integration, improved metadata management, establishment of data governance, and enhanced enterprise architecture to support its efforts for logistics and supply when Operation Iraqi Freedom made the transition to Operation Enduring Freedom. As a result, The DoD continues its enterprise data management and information-based logistics / supply chain improvement efforts. DoD Logistics reduced integration costs by 68% over a specified analysis period, since the implementation of data and metadata management allowed the consolidation of systems and reduced data redundancy.

EWSolutions provided sustained guidance and advice informed by industry standards and proven practices, and led / directed several foundational projects during a critical period for the Department of Defense.

EWSolutions Overview EWSolutions is comprised of superior strategic and tactical planning analysts who offer government and commercial clients innovative and authoritative solutions to assist with assessments / strategies in all areas of enterprise data / information management, technology implementation in metadata management, data warehousing (ETL, BI, data and text mining, etc.), business intelligence implementation, data governance program development and implementation, enterprise data management framework development and implementation, data migration planning, disaster and contingency planning, and strategic solutions for business/technology issues. The company’s extensive client base spans the government and the health, life sciences, insurance, financial services, consumer products, retail, manufacturing, and high-tech industries. For more information on our strategic consulting services, high-value implementation services, methodologies, or world-class training call (630) 920-0005 or email us at [email protected] http://www.ewsolutions.com [email protected] © Page 6