Army Hosts EBS-C Industry Day

The Army Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) Enterprise Business Systems – Convergence (EBS-C) product management office and the Enterprise Business Systems Multi-Functional Capabilities Team (EBS-MFCT) held their second virtual EBS-C Industry Day Aug. 30.

The Army seeks to connect with industry leaders for support in developing and managing prototypes of commercially-available software solutions and integrated applications that deliver EBS-C capabilities.

The industry day, virtually attended by an audience of more than 700 attendees, followed the June 30 release of a draft prototype project opportunity notice (PPON) and request for information, and enabled the Army to present updated plans for a converged enterprise resource planning system, as well as to respond to requests for one-on-one meetings with potential industry partners in advance of an upcoming procurement.

Several senior Army leaders kicked off the event with remarks about the historic and innovative effort to converge the capabilities of five separate defense business systems. Speakers included Young Bang, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army, Acquisition, Logistics and Technology; Raj Iyer, Army chief information officer (CIO); Ross Guckert, program executive officer at PEO EIS; and Brig. Gen. Michael Lalor, director, EBS-MFCT.

“We don't want the traditional [software] approach; we want an agile, innovative approach," said Bang. “And we want data liquidity — data that can be abstracted and shared across stove-piped systems, so it can be consumed by all parties whenever they need it.”

Iyer explained how EBS-C is an important part of the Army’s digital transformation journey. “From a digital transformation perspective … when you bring in the potential for cloud, data and artificial intelligence, that can truly be a game-changer in terms of how the Army operates logistics and finance,” he said. “This has been a tremendous partnership across the Army and certainly for the Office of the CIO.”

Following the introductory remarks, EBS-C and Army Contracting Command officials provided an EBS-C program and functional overview, a capability implementation and system engineering overview, and information on the Army’s other transaction authority approach. They also conducted question and answer sessions throughout the event, gathering questions from both Army365 Teams and YouTube. The event concluded with 10 one-on-one meetings held between Army officials and potential prime vendors to discuss their proposed commercial solutions and to answer any additional questions.

Guckert told industry day attendees that the EBS-C product office would issue a new draft PPON. That second draft PPON has since been released. 

“At the end of the day, it’s about shaping our strategy so we’re not restrictive, and ensuring we get the most innovation out of industry as possible,” he said. “Our current acquisition approach and use of the other transaction authority vehicle gives us the most speed and agility as it relates to innovation and capability delivery, and particularly the ability to prototype faster.”

Final EBS-C requirements are still pending, and timelines are being developed, but the expectation is for the Army to initially deploy EBS-C by fiscal year 2026, with full operational capability by fiscal year 2032.

Lalor explained that EBS-C is about allowing commanders to see ammunition, transportation, maintenance, medical supplies and more in real time, so they can spend less time behind the computer and more time training and executing missions. “All of sustainment wrapped up into one system, from the industrial base to the tactical edge of the battlefield,” he said. The success of the program, he added, “will hinge on your [industry’s] ability to provide a system with modernized business processes — but also a modern data architecture to enable audit compliance and where we want to go as an Army.”

View a recording of the Aug. 30 EBS-C Industry Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGssEfejzd8

View draft PPON #2: https://sam.gov/opp/0ff19abc5cd74edb9b7dcb98a44afc80/view

Learn more about the EBS-C product office: https://www.eis.army.mil/programs/ebs-c