Sustaining and Modernizing Network Enclaves for Mission Critical Defense Programs

Situation

OM Group took over sustainment of network enclaves for two high-visibility defense programs, then quadrupled their computing capability while keeping every system accredited.

The customer needed a partner to operate and sustain IT systems and networks for users on two major defense programs. The mission could not pause while support changed hands.

Scope: Operations, sustainment, and engineering for voice, video, and data networks supporting two major defense programs.

The Challenge

• Complex environment. Users relied on a broad mix of voice, video, and data systems, with strict requirements for COMSEC, access control, and information system security. Supporting them took cleared experts across hardware, software, infrastructure, interfaces, and cyber.
• Demanding stakeholders. Two high-visibility user communities, with senior leadership attention, expected rapid response from highly cleared specialists.
• Continuous accreditation. Every system had to keep its Authority to Operate (ATO) while it was being upgraded and expanded.

Our Approach

• Kept expertise in place. We transitioned the existing team of program experts to sustain and expand support without disruption. We then built the second program’s support team from those experienced staff, so it started with proven knowledge instead of a learning curve.
• Embedded with users. Our team worked alongside the user community to anticipate mission needs before they became requests.
• Improved continuously. Continuous Service Improvement practices steadily expanded what the team delivered for the same investment.
• Tiger-teamed priority upgrades. Focused teams executed system upgrades quickly as customer priorities emerged.
• Kept leadership informed. A formal communications management plan, based on PMI’s PMBOK standard, kept stakeholders at every level, up to senior leadership, informed and supported.

Results