Description
Organization: SPAWAR, Information Support Systems Directorate (PD 15)Team Name: NTCSS TeamRelated Acquisition Topic(s): Business Process Reengineering (BPR), Commercial and Non Developmental Items (CANDI), Cycle Time Reduction (CTR), Evolutionary Acquisition, Integrated Digital Environment (IDE), Integrated Product Teams (IPT), Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD), Open Systems, Risk ManagementDescription: NTCSS is a multi-function ACAT IAM program designed to reduce the administrative burden of Fleet personnel. NTCSS provides a full range of standard information resource management tools to various afloat and fleet support shore activities. Virtually all Naval Afloat Commands, Naval Air Squadrons, Marine Aviation Logistic Squadrons and numerous Shore station Command depend on some variant of NTCSS to support their supply, maintenance, financial, medical, personnel, and other tactical support information needs. : The NTCSS Team is comprised of the members of the NTCSS PMO, SPAWARSYSCEN, Chesapeake, and SPAWARSYSCEN, Charleston Det. St. Julien's Creek.Program Acquisition Innovation Highlights: The NTCSS team has achieved an overall cost avoidance of $753.3 million and productivity and external benefits of $744.1 million.Reducing Life Cycle Costs : Over the past year reduced costs have been realized in the following three areas:
Making the Acquisition System More Efficient, Responsive, and Timely : NTCSS has employed Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) products, a phased development schedule, and risk reduction efforts in consonance with OSD to shorten the acquisition lead time. The procurement of COTS, instead of military standard equipment, under existing large-buy contracts plays a key role in risk reduction in the areas of schedules and costs. The NTCSS phased development enables the insertion of new hardware, new software, and new functionality at different points within the life cycle. NTCSS risk reduction efforts include the migration, vice replacement, of ongoing programs and the use of proven commercial technology and delivery methods. Two current initiatives, Intranet Web Server and Database Replication, have been rapid developmental initiatives capitalizing on COTS products and will enable the fleet to transition to a paperless environment utilizing existing NTCSS hardware platforms.Accomplishing Specific Goals Associated with Acquisition Reform Initiatives : NTCSS has continued to "push the envelope" in the area of Acquisition Reform Initiatives. With the approval of OSD, combined milestones, rapid prototyping, and concurrent operational testing have each been successfully employed by NTCSS over the past year. Additionally, the Working Integrated Product/Process Team (WIPT) concept with OSD and DON has had a tremendously positive impact in advancing NTCSS. IPT member empowerment for decision making has saved time, reduced many of the problems that were prevalent in the older serial decision process, and achieved cost savings through earlier deployment.Promoting Continuous Improvement of the Acquisition Process : The well defined NTCSS Metrics Program provides a means to measure progress toward acquisition objectives, facilitates risk mitigation, and assists the Program Manager in delivering software applications on schedule and within cost. Throughout the past year the value of the NTCSS Metrics Program was been demonstrated as each initiative met cost, schedule, and performance goals.
