Army set to complete enterprise email migration
Army finishing transition that could save up to $380 million over the next few years.
The Army is winding down a high-profile IT project that has been years in the making: The migration to enterprise email services is essentially complete.
If all goes according to plan, the Army is expected to announce the transition's completion as soon as July 25, according to Mike Krieger, deputy Army CIO/G-6.
The migration includes 1.5 million users in the unclassified NIPRNet and 100,000 users on the classified SIPRNet. Those figures include almost every Army component as well as related agencies, including the Joint Staff.
The enterprise-wide program for email and other types of communications services within the Defense Department is being carried out in coordination with the Defense Information Systems Agency. DISA hosts the cloud-based email, which also includes services such as a global address list, calendar-sharing and a platform for collaborating across geographic locations.
Work on the program began in 2009, when Army officials announced they would explore the option of commercially managed email with a request for information. In 2010, officials decided to go through DISA instead, citing cost savings.
The road to completion – a target date at least four months behind the March 2013 deadline officials had determined as of last August – has been rocky at times. The project struggled through obstacles that included technical problems, funding hurdles amid questions from Congress and reports of exaggerated savings.
As of August 2012 – the most recent estimate available -- enterprise email was projected to save the Army $76 million in fiscal 2013 and $380 million through 2017.