Defense Logistics Agency

Executive Summary

In 2002, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) selected Kratos to transform five stand-alone telecommunications networks into one fully integrated, secure network. Kratos designed and implemented a global Enterprise Telecommunications Network (ETN), along with a Network Management Operations center (NeMO). Today, Kratos engineers provide technical maintenance for both the ETN and NeMO, spanning 350 communications sites at defense distribution centers and U.S. Air Force bases across the globe.

Situational Overview

DLA supplies the nation’s military services and several civilian agencies with the critical resources they need to accomplish their worldwide missions. Since its creation in 1961, the agency has grown to become a worldwide logistics combat support operation.

DLA’s ability to deliver American war-fighters the right logistics solution in every transaction requires more than successful management of the U.S. Department of Defense’s wholesale supplies and suppliers. The agency, which relies on complex computer networks, turned to Kratos to significantly improve its business operations and the management of mission-critical applications.

Unique Challenge

For DLA, the increased volume of interactive and online processing has presented new challenges. Kratos was selected to design and install a centralized network to support DLA’s critical applications while fully complying with Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) computing requirements. In replacing five regional networks, the centralized global network needed to:

• Meet near-term bandwidth requirements and provide additional bandwidth on demand
  
• Improve information assurance by reducing risk to the agency at a lower cost and without impacting mission-critical applications
  
• Create a central NeMO to oversee DLA Wide Area Network (WAN) resources
  
• Improve WAN services at an equal or lower cost as measured over a seven-year cycle.
  

Kratos Solution

Leveraging its vast network engineering experience, Kratos provided DLA with a broad suite of services. As the ETN system integrator, Kratos had the following roles and responsibilities:

• Program Management
  
• Site Surveys and Data Collection
  
• Recommendations and Design
  
• Material Management and Control
  
• Implementation Support
  
• Information Assurance Support.
  

Kratos’s key solutions have included:

Program Management

• Operations & Planning: Providing operations, configuration control, and Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) and disaster recovery planning.
  
• ETN Change Process: Writing and implementing the ETN change process in accordance with DLA Enterprise CM plan, also written by Kratos.
  
• Document Management Repository: Establishing and maintaining a document management repository that contains all DLA ETN project documents once they have been baselined by the client.
  

Network Operations

• Network Design: Kratos created a design that incorporated 14 geographically distributed hub sites interconnected by a switched asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) backbone. Each hub site was connected to the Internet via high-speed circuits, and remote sites in geographic proximity to the hub site were connected via high-speed T1 lines.
  
• Business Case & ROI Analyses: Once the design was approved, Kratos helped the government develop a Business Case Analysis that identified the system investment costs and provided a Return on Investment (ROI) Analysis.
  
• Network Installation: Kratos physically separated the Local Area Networks (LANs) at hundreds of communication sites. This included managing communications and scheduling with government site leads and conducting activities such as site surveys, providing physical cabling and operations cutover.
  

Empowering Benefits

Called “one of the most successful IT programs in DLA history” by the agency’s chief information officer, Kratos’ ETN implementation has provided a variety of benefits, including:

• Operational Readiness: The agency’s mission-critical network needs to be up 24/7, 365 days a year. The centralized, integrated network has been instrumental in further improving DLA’s operational readiness posture. With the NeMO managing and controlling the worldwide network around the clock, the agency has achieved operational readiness of 99 percent, consistently meeting Department of Defense (DoD) requirements.
  
• Optimized Performance: Because Kratos is vendor-agnostic, its engineers selected the right applications and systems to create a highly optimized network for DLA. Kratos tailored the design to provide the best long-term solution, while enabling the agency to meet rigorous requirements for bandwidth, reliability and risk management.
  
• Secure Connectivity: Kratos’ network design reduced the agency’s commercial Internet exposure while providing equal or better performance to users at a reduced cost.
  
• Information Assurance: To protect sensitive information, Kratos worked closely with DLA FOIA manager to create an information protection implementation guide with established information owners. The project also includes written guidance for Information Assurance (IA) reviews of system change requests, detailing IA requirements that need to be met. The project’s IA manager is the only one to report IA workforce training and certification requirements and compliance in 2006, per DoD requirements.
  
• Cost Efficiency: Kratos was able to implement the most cost-effective solution for the agency by using standardized equipment and methodologies and provisioning circuits efficiently. The NeMO also reduced costs through centralized controls and scheduled management.

After DLA initially funded the initiative in August 2002, Kratos completed its project several months early and under original cost estimates, earning team members a DLA achievement award from the agency commander. In fact, the ETN and NeMO, along with communication sites across the continental United States, were fully operational in 16 months. The ETN project also won the DLA team award for fiscal year 2003, recognizing the implementation as the most successful DLA project of the year. Based on Kratos’ performance, DLA later issued a follow-on order for Kratos to expand the ETN overseas and provide fully redundant backup capabilities, a task that currently is nearing completion.