Col. Don Burton, project manager for Defense Integrated Business Systems (DIBS), leads a team of 345 people who develop and sustain Army enterprise-wide financial business systems. Last year, his team migrated the Army’s General Fund Enterprise Business System to the cloud. The transition was completed seven months ahead of schedule with the support of several industry and government partners. “It was a herculean task and a great team effort,” Burton said. “Everyone put both oars in the water and rowed together.” Burton answered questions about his values, life and career.

Happy February! In light of the recent change in presidential administrations, I’d like to kick off this month’s column by welcoming our new DOD, Army and Army acquisition leadership.

On Jan. 13, PEO EIS’s Global Combat Support System – Army (GCSS-Army) program received official authority to proceed with releasing its next round of capabilities to approximately 1,000 users to better manage Army Prepositioned Stock (APS). GCSS-Army provides functional services to the business enterprise and warfighting mission areas focused on property book, supply operations, tactical maintenance, logistics management and associated tactical finance functionality, serving as the tactical financial system of record for the Army.

On day two of AFCEA NOVA’s Army IT Days — held virtually from Jan. 21-22 — PEO EIS program executive officer Ross Guckert took part in the Army Data Environments panel with Dr. David Markowitz, chief data officer, U.S. Army CIO; Dovarius Peoples, director of corporate information, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); and Robin Swan, director of the Office of Business Transformation, Office of the Secretary of the Army.

The defense acquisition community eagerly awaited updates to the 5000 Series acquisition guidance, originally published in 2015. The nation’s threat landscape has accelerated exponentially over the past few years, and it was clear we needed acquisition policies that allowed for more flexible and accelerated programs.

PEO EIS’s Logistics Information Systems (LIS) product office — part of the Army Data and Analytics Platforms (ARDAP) portfolio — recently collaborated with the Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Enterprise Systems and Services (ALTESS) product office — part of PEO EIS’s Enterprise Services portfolio — to migrate the Standard Army Ammunition System (SAAS) production environment to the ALTESS data center.

Jeannie Winchester, product lead for the Enterprise Business Systems – Convergence (EBS-C) program, is helping the Army converge six legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems into one. After serving in the Air Force for six years, Winchester was a defense contractor specializing in information technology infrastructure and cybersecurity for 13 years.

DEMETRIUS BROWN LIKES TO HELP. Brown, an operation support specialist, is a member of a talented team led by Tony Kendrick that makes PEO EIS buildings hum like well-oiled machines. “I like to say that we do a lot of everything,” Brown said. “We change light bulbs, maintain an inventory of office supplies, rearrange cubicles and deliver paper. We make sure everyone in the workforce can do their job effectively.” Brown answered questions about his career and life.

On Jan. 4, Lt. Gen. Bob Marion, Army Acquisition Corps director and principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)), announced the winners of the 2020 Maj. Gen. Harold J. “Harry” Greene Awards for Acquisition Writing, and PEO EIS brought home one of the top honors.