Software, AI, Cloud and Zero Trust as Top Priorities for the Army and DoD at Large at TechNet Augusta 2023

Posted on by Mike McCalip

Many of the major cybersecurity, data, DevSecOps and other trends from the past couple of years continue to grow and be top priorities for every segment of the Department of Defense (DoD). At TechNet Augusta 2023, Government and industry experts shared the specific needs of their organizations across those areas and solutions to help achieve their goals. The main theme of the event was “Enabling a Data-Centric Army” and expanding those principles and their mobilizing technologies to the entire DoD. For the Army in particular, the shift from hardware to software, the use of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud capabilities and Zero Trust were headlining topics at the conference.

Shifting from Hardware to Software

In an effort to increase agility and expand access to resources, the Army is transitioning its equipment from hardware to software. Amending its materiel release process to decouple software from hardware allows the Army to deploy software outside of the long hardware acquisition cycle. To mobilize this endeavor, the Army Futures Command (AFC), is modifying its software requirements to focus on high-level overviews that are then refined by operators. Alongside this shift, the Army and other departments requested that technology providers ensure that their software solutions integrate with each other. Going forward, the Army also asked industry to provide software that is not tied to specific hardware. This separation will be key to establishing data-centricity. Nearly every speaker echoed the importance of this shift for their departments.

Utilizing AI

With this major transition to a software-heavy environment, Army Chief Data and Analytics Officer David Markowitz believes it will be an ideal use case for generative AI in software development. Having a controlled environment in software development would make it easier to properly govern compared to the complexity of some of the other uses. As AI usage increases across the DoD, military leaders requested industry create AI platforms with layered complexity of features enabling users of any skill level to utilize the technology effectively. In regard to AI applications for data, Army CIO Leonel Garciga stated that additional guidance on “Data Use on Public/Commercial Platforms” would be released soon to clarify its policy. Overall, officials concurred that the DoD is not looking to become 100% reliant on AI aid but instead maximize AI’s strengths to augment human critical thinking and empower commanders to make data-driven decisions.

Enabling Cloud Capabilities

Over the past year, the Army has exponentially increased its cloud migration and virtualized capabilities. Housing information in the cloud optimizes data storage and simplifies ease of access particularly with the increase in data output, and the push for AI data analytics and data-driven decisions. Hybrid cloud solutions offer the readiness, adaptability and duplication of vital information necessary for military operations to continue smoothly in any situation. Currently, DoD leaders seek industry solutions for modernizing and moving applications to the cloud simultaneously. Acquiring technology with this ability would reduce both the security risk and the work required from the military to implement it.

Expanding Zero Trust

Overarching every aspect of the DoD is the critical need for cybersecurity. Garciga plans to emphasize Zero Trust implementation heavily in conjunction with improving user experience and cyber posture. While multi-factor authentication offers a great starting point, military leaders explained that it is not enough and that they look to partner with industry to close virtualization vulnerabilities through continuous monitoring and regular red teaming. At the conference, the Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) outlined seven principles for IT providers to follow for all capabilities they deliver:

Rapidly Patch Software
Assess All Production Code for Security Flaws
Improve Security of Development Networks
Isolate Development Environments from the Internet and from the Vendor Business Network
Implement Development Network Security Monitoring
Implement Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) on Development Network and Testing Services
Implement Role-based Permissions on Development Network

Empowering DoD Success

A consistent thread woven throughout the event was the vital nature of open communication and partnership between the DoD and technology companies to achieve the established goals. Within each of these areas including the shift from hardware to software, use of AI, cloud capabilities and Zero Trust, the DoD looks to innovate and explore new methods and solutions to stay ahead on the world platform. Together through collaboration, industry can have a vital role in keeping American citizens safe one technology update at a time.

Explore our Federal Defense Technology Solutions Portfolio to learn how Carahsoft can support your organization through innovative, agile defense resources and IT capabilities.

*The information contained in this blog has been written based off the thought-leadership discussions presented by speakers at TechNet Augusta 2023.*

Technology’s Role in Hire-to-Retire in Government

Posted on by Greg Brundidge

Human capital is the most important resource for any enterprise. However, the Government Accountability Office reported in 2020 that 60% of newly hired government employees only remained for two years. Such a talent drain forces government agencies to consume resources on constantly recruiting and training new personnel.

Agencies are routinely looking for ways to retain talented individuals and provide meaningful career paths, while cutting operational waste and redundancy. Employee lifecycle tools in end-to-end, hire-to-retire (H2R) integrated human resources processes are designed to streamline human resources employment and improve the retention of skilled employees. This provides enormous benefits to both agency management and employees.

Digital Transformation

The government doesn’t always make effective use of its employee data and require more efficient ways to access, query, and visualize the information. Across the government, agency leaders and HR teams are leveraging digital transformation to improve the H2R lifecycle.

Innovative programs use automation, analytics, artificial intelligence, omnichannel engagement, and other capabilities to create a 360-degree view of every employee. This allows HR leaders to provide systems that deliver an improved customer experience—offering tailored, personalized options from the start of an individual’s career, through their training, development, and career progression to the time they retire. The personalized employee experience includes an intuitive, single sign-on from anywhere capability and processes can be streamlined with mobile self-service capabilities.

The HR team can build solutions with helpful apps—from helpdesks to time and attendance–enabling employees to be more engaged. The right blend of people and technology can be a huge boon to employee effectiveness, productivity, and retention. Using a digital transformation plan to digitize form completion and other individual manual processes, agencies save money and free up employees for higher priority work.

Talent Recruitment

Technology can be invaluable when recruiting new employees. AI solutions provide a more collaborative and effective recruiting experience by automating processes with real-time tracking HR offices can deliver the right content to the candidate at the right stage of the hiring process. Information can be automatically sent to specific candidates with an appropriate cadence that makes them feel wanted. With AI managing applications and qualifications, hiring is easier for everyone.

Onboarding

The right technologies help agencies streamline mandated in-processing forms, individual benefit programs, and personnel record management. Less manual labor and faster processing means employees can start working sooner. Technology gives new hires a smoother experience—from offer acceptance through the training and mission orientation activities in the first year of employment. New employee training and orientation can be integrated into one standardized platform, so managers can track each employee’s progress in real-time. This makes the employee’s onboarding experience more positive and increases agency efficiency.

Workforce Planning

Leaders can use platforms to visualize data, equipping them to make data-driven decisions and draw insights from trends. Greater visibility into the available talent pool allows supervisors to use personnel resources effectively. They can evaluate mission needs, discover workforce talent gaps, and formulate appropriate recruiting efforts.

Employee Development

Providing timely and effective training and education helps improve employee retention. By the time an employee is completely onboarded, agencies have a lot of information about them, including training needs, special skills, and preliminary career development goals. With that data, the right digital transformation solution can help employees identify where they want to go next and which skills they will need.

With these tools, education and training can be tailored for each individual’s career goals. Automated systems can alert people to relevant opportunities and give access to training without requiring employees to fill out forms or talk to HR staff. With information at their fingertips for both employees and managers, the agency community remains connected.

Personalization

Many legacy HR systems are impersonal and one-size-fits-all. Systems that allow for personalization increase engagement by doing something very simple: making employees feel valued, noticed, and cared for. AI and machine learning capabilities allow computers to be more interactive with employees so they can pinpoint relevant data and offer very specific opportunities.

Setting Goals

Managers often struggle to set mission goals and then translate them into workforce tasks. With a comprehensive digital transformation solution, management can set specific mission goals and measurements and link them to performance objectives for individual employees. Because all the information is managed on a single, holistic platform, managers can link mission goals to an individual’s desire for a specific kind of assignment or training. With a 360-degree view of an employee, supervisors can also set performance goals with employees and then check progress and provide feedback quarterly or semiannually, helping both the employees and the agencies realize their long-term goals.

View our webinar to learn more about how government and industry thought leaders are using Hire to Retire.

Count on Carahsoft: IT Procurement for Government Blog Series: How to Procure with the Army CHESS ITES Program

Posted on by The Carahsoft Team

The U.S. Army’s Computer, Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) program is the Army’s primary source for procuring commercial, off-the-shelf hardware, software, and services. It is a series of Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts that are pre-negotiated and set up to expedite the acquisition process. CHESS provides a simple, straightforward, and cost-efficient contract vehicle for government agencies that require products and services.

On the hardware side, there are two contracts. One is the Army desktop and mobile computing contract and the other is ITES-3H, which is the Army Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-3 Hardware contract. From the services side, there is ITES-3S, Army Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-3 Services. For software, it is ITES-SW, Army Information Technology Enterprise Solutions – Software.

CHESS is primarily for Army use, but it is open to all Department of Defense (DoD) and federal customers with no fees. Given its IDIQ nature, ITES functions similarly to the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program as a Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). As a component of DoD, CHESS contracts require stricter requirements around supply chain and provide extra supply chain risk management. Additionally, CHESS tends to require solutions that adhere to DoD common criteria and similar requirements necessary to function within integrated architectures.

What’s Process of Acquiring IT Solutions with Army CHESS?

The Army CHESS office is run through the Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO-EIS). As such, DFAR (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation) terms are a part of these contracts as well as any applicable Army Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Supplements.

The process is similar to other contracting vehicles from both the agency and industry sides. The agency develops requirements before reaching out to the contracting officer to discuss those requirements and develop a statement of work. Then they identify the funding that can be moved through the program before turning it over to the contracting officer acquisition side.

Perks of Procuring with ARMY CHESS

Supply Chain Risk Management: The supply chain risk management process looks at each particular product from the perspective of its ability to sabotage or maliciously induce something via software patches. They look at where the code is originating, what has been manufactured, and where the hardware is being produced or distributed. All those things are included as part of that review process to put a product into CHESS. While supply chain management is a popular buzzword lately that many contracts are beginning to address, this is not new to the Army; the Army has been doing this for years.

Approved Products List (APL): CHESS has products that are certified as acceptable to sit on a DoD network. This is an important certification for users and accessors of the products on this contract. The Army/DoD Unified Capabilities Approved Products List’s purpose is to maintain a single consolidated list of products that have completed Interoperability and information assurance certification for use in DoD systems and networks.

Trade Agreements Act: The Trade Agreements Act applies to all products within CHESS programs and provides that they are made in the USA or a designated approved country (i.e. Canada, the United Kingdom, etc.). TAA compliance ensures that products originating from non-complaint countries (i.e. China, Iran, Syria, Russia, etc.) do not end up within an Army or DoD network.

Software Risk Management Framework: On the software side, the Software Risk Management Framework provides similar assurances to TAA. Software must be certified through the Risk Management Framework (RMF) or be listed on another approved DoD program. CHESS provides a framework and actively works within it to manage supply chain risks. CHESS is a leader in the community of similar government and industry entities that share these concerns and it works cooperatively with NIST, MITRE, Gartner, GSA, and many others.

Count on Carahsoft and our reseller partners to deliver and implement cutting-edge cloud solutions and services at the best value. Request a Quote Today and start the conversation with our team on how we can assist you this federal fiscal year-end.

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