PEO Enterprise rethinks its approach to cybersecurity

With cybersecurity requiring more attention than ever before, PEO Enterprise has taken proactive steps to ensure its networks are secure today and prepared for the future. 

During AFCEA TechNet Augusta in August, PEO Enterprise Chief Information Officer (CIO) Mike Chappell introduced Product Lead (PL) Innovate. The new product office effectively transforms PEO Enterprise’s Chief Information Office into a matrixed organizational structure responsible for consolidating enterprise technologies. By centralizing technologies that solve common problems across the PEO, the process of adapting, maturing and deploying them becomes quicker and more efficient — all with the broader goal of delivering value to Soldiers. 

The first three initiatives in the PL Innovate pipeline, according to Chappell, are Neighborhood Watch, DevSecOps and Army Data Mesh — each of which will have a dedicated assistant product manager. Future initiatives in the backlog include a digital transformation center, technical leadership support model, machine learning operations products, artificial intelligence/retrieval augmented generation products, user analytics, human-centered design/user experience tooling, technical risk management and application modernization.

Neighborhood Watch is a program designed to converge the cyber defense of the 44 PEO Enterprise systems today into a local cyber defense capability. This converged capability will accelerate and enable the Army’s larger security information and event management mission, according to the organization’s chief information security officer, Ali Mohammed.

“To have full visibility of cybersecurity for the Army’s defense business systems that are managed by PEO Enterprise seems elementary but is next level,” said Mohammed. “Our Neighborhood Watch will enable defensive cyber operations for all our systems to understand our cybersecurity posture in real-time, support continuous monitoring and allow our leadership to make threat-informed decisions.” 

The discussions around establishing PL Innovate first came about nearly a year ago, in November 2023. With cybersecurity top of mind, leadership wanted to take a holistic approach to cyber defense, looking across the PEO’s entire footprint rather than at individual programs or technologies in silos. Moving to a standardized security incident event management environment will do just that.

“A centralized [cyber] team can help support all [of PEO Enterprise’s] programs collectively,” said Chappell. “Instead of each program building and running that service for just their program, we can build a more efficient and effective centralized service across PEO Enterprise.” 

Consolidating technologies is “a win-win,” he added, since it allows PEO Enterprise to provide better service for everyone, with efficiency and cost-effectiveness as key drivers behind it.

Outside of the technological advantages of consolidation, contracting efficiency plays an important role too. The many cyber programs across the PEO are independent and funded that way with individual requests for proposals (RFPs). By establishing PL Innovate, PEO Enterprise can change how projects are bid out. With consolidated programs, RFPs can be combined, leading to a single authority to operate, faster implementation and better targeting. 

“It’s the right thing to do from a technical standpoint to build the architecture that way,” Chappell said.

When it comes to deciding which initiatives will enter the PL Innovate queue after the initial three, Chappell said it will be a collaborative effort between senior leadership and program managers based on their highest priorities. Industry’s input is also welcome.

“What I would love to hear from industry … is [about] the things that are coming,” Chappell said. “How do I best prioritize those? Which ones should be centralized out of headquarters? How are we delivering today and enabling things [of less] maturity to grow into full capabilities?”

Even the PL Innovate structure is well thought out — it will be comprised of those with technical skills, industry experts and leaders with experience in key government roles. Among the latter, Miranda Coleman, deputy CIO at PEO Enterprise, will be PL Innovate’s acting product lead. Coleman recently rejoined PEO Enterprise from the Army Futures Command's Artificial Intelligence Integration Center after previously leading PEO Enterprise’s Army Vantage program.

“This is an exciting time at PEO Enterprise,” Coleman said. “PL Innovate aims to rapidly deliver value to the PEO as a whole. Our focus is how we can streamline approaches that not only standardize processes but also reduce redundancy.”

“There’s an air of excitement across the board,” Chappell said about PL Innovate’s future. “We’ll be able to have technical skills and expertise to help [PEO Enterprise’s programs] accelerate. I think it will gain a lot of value quickly.”