The Defense Logistics Agency’s Information Operations team completed the migration of its Enterprise Resource Planning system from on-premises to the cloud in February, a move aimed at improving IT reliability and aligning DLA’s Digital-Business Transformation strategy.
Aside from potential cost advantages and the ability to scale, a cloud-based ERP allows DLA to access new capabilities as technologies evolve.
“DLA’s Strategic Plan requires we move our IT capabilities in a direction that allows the agency to be more agile and flexible to support emerging automation needs and improve efficiency and business,” said Adarryl Roberts, DLA Program Executive Officer. “Our ERP cloud approach includes SAP government trained staff which keeps the organizational strategy and knowledge within DLA. Our approach now shifts the agency’s focus to the strategic differentiators that drive actual business value.”
The DLA ERP capability serves 25,000 military and civilians across the U.S. and 28 countries, said Stacey Evans, ERP Program manager. It manages nearly 5.1 million line items via DLA’s nine supply chains for 86% of all military services repair parts and 100% of fuel and troop support consumables. In addition, it supports over 2,300 weapon systems. The capability processes over 8,000 procurement actions and 100,000 orders each day for annual sales of more than $42 billion.
“This migration culminated years of planning and preparation, involving tens of thousands of hours of effort,” Evans said. “The original projected timeline was a 24-month effort, but the team was able to complete the migration in 16 months -- eight months ahead of the original projected timeline.”
Although it was mostly a technical activity, the first of two phases of the ERP migration program were a critical step in modernizing management capabilities. ERP integrates systems used across different departments of DLA, enabling easy and uniform flow of information aided by software applications. It consists of several systems like the Enterprise Business System, Enterprise Data Warehouse, and the Governance Risk and Compliance and Advanced Planning Optimization. Capabilities include Customer Management, Product Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain Management, Configuration Management, Enterprise Portal, Financial, Procurement, Planning Integration, and Data and Reports.
The ERP Migration roadmap now enters the final and longer phase known as ERP Transformation, essentially migrating the ERP to the next generation platform and adopting standard capability to the maximum extent possible. With the successful migration to cloud, Evans said DLA will be able to take advantage of modern, module-based technology. Leveraging module-based offerings allows DLA to take advantage of innovations such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, machine learning and other burgeoning technologies.