Department of Navy Chief Information Officer

Strategic Intent for Transition to Naval Enterprise Information Technology Services

Joint DON CIO and ASN(RD&A) Memo - Publish Date: 10/07/21


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This memo details that in support of the Department of Navy's Information Superiority Vision objectives, the DON will move away from isolated development of duplicative information technology functions and transition to an enterprise IT services approach. This approach focuses on building secure IT services and consuming these services broadly across the DON enterprise to increase agility and speed in the development, delivery, and management of capability to the warfighter.

SUBJECT: Strategic Intent for Transition to Naval Enterprise Information Technology Services

References: (a) Department of the Navy Information Superiority Vision, 14 Feb 2020
(b) Under Secretary of the Navy Memorandum, “Department of the Navy Information Superiority Executive Steering Group Charter”, 28 Jul 2021

In support of the Department of Navy’s (DON) Information Superiority Vision (ISV) objectives in reference (a), the DON will move away from isolated development of duplicative information technology (IT) functions and transition to an enterprise IT services approach. This approach focuses on building secure IT services and consuming these services broadly across the DON enterprise to increase agility and speed in the development, delivery, and management of capability to the warfighter. This transition is fundamental to reducing waste and duplication; increasing data availability; maintaining pace with modern industry practices; accelerating productivity; and, reducing cyber risk. DON enterprise IT services will be designed to be high performing, low cost, continuously secured, and easily accessed, thus making them a more attractive alternative than an independent investment. To the greatest extent practicable, common enterprise IT services will be adopted across the DON enterprise.

Enterprise IT services consist of a technology solution paired with appropriate use case(s), enabling their reuse whenever those use cases are encountered. In order to be successful, these enterprise IT services must be lean (efficient), learning (responsive to feedback), and enabling (teams do not need to be coerced into adoption). While focused on our enterprise networks, where technically and financially feasible these IT services should be extended to our tactical edge to help improve interoperability and data sharing. The intent of enterprise IT services is to operate across more than one network, security domain, system, or organizational unit. The DON’s initial priority is core IT services, with the objective of expanding scope over time based on approved operational requirements. The initial use cases for enterprise IT services review include but are not limited to collaboration and productivity; Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM); Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) capabilities; cloud platform services; and data analytics services.

Within 60 days of issuance of this memorandum, the DON Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will establish and lead a forum, feeding up to the Information Superiority Advisory Board in accordance with reference (b), to define policy, roles, and processes required for identification and adoption of enterprise IT services. This forum will enable partnership with all appropriate stakeholders from DON Chief Information Officer (CIO); Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition (ASN(RDA)); DON Deputy CIOs (DDCIOs) for Navy and Marine Corps; and Program Executive Offices (PEOs). Once established, this forum will draft, review, and route for approval the foundational policies and procedures for enterprise IT services to include identification of:

  • The DON standard IT service management (ITSM) reference model, to include cybersecurity assessment and authorization (A&A).
  • Defined IT service portfolios and a rationalized DON IT portfolio taxonomy for relevant IT products.
  • Recommendations for near-term IT priorities based on Navy and Marine Corps requirements.
  • Roles and responsibilities with respect to enterprise IT services.
  • Artifacts, plan templates, and corresponding assessment process.
  • DON policy for discovery and adoption of enterprise IT services, catalogued in the DON’s Naval Digital Marketplace at https://cloud.navy.mil/.
  • Measures of enterprise IT service performance to drive continued improvement.
  • An exception and waiver process.
The DON leads for this effort are Ms. Jane Rathbun, DON CTO and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Information Warfare and Enterprise Services (DASN (IWAR)), (703) 614-6619, jane.o.rathbun.civ@us.navy.mil; and Mr. Mike Galbraith, DON Chief Digital Innovation Officer (CDIO), at (703) 692-4953, michael.j.galbraith4.civ@us.navy.mil.

Signed by:
Aaron D Weis
Department of the Navy
Chief Information Officer

Signed by:
Frederick J. Stefany
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Research, Development, and
Acquisition (Acting)

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