NSIPS puts personnel data online for sailors
Connecting state and local government leaders
By 2004, Navy officials hope sailors will no longer have to carry bulky paper personnel files with them at every change of station. The Navy is putting personnel and pay documents into an electronic format so the service can migrate to the Defense Integrated Manpower and Human Resource System in two years.
By 2004, Navy officials hope sailors will no longer have to carry bulky paper personnel files with them at every change of station. The Navy is putting personnel and pay documents into an electronic format so the service can migrate to the Defense Integrated Manpower and Human Resource System in two years.The Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System, maintained in New Orleans, combines 13 costly legacy systems into one secure personnel and pay system. Last month, Release 0.2 went live in Jacksonville, Fla., with about 30,000 records for active-duty service members and reservists, said Capt. Peggy Feldmann, the NSIPS program manager.NSIPS, operated by the Enterprise Solutions Directorate, will become a single point of entry for personnel data from 226 fleet units, 95 personnel units and 278 Naval Reserve activities, Feldmann said.'It's the first time we have a pay and personnel system that's integrated,' she said.Lockheed Martin Corp. is the main contractor for the $225 million system. Release 0.2 runs PeopleSoft 7.5 HRMS software from PeopleSoft Inc. of Pleasanton, Calif. , atop an Oracle database.For the next generation of the system, NSIPS Release 1.0, the Navy is considering a switch to PeopleSoft 8.0, which would make the system available via the Web. Such a move would delay the deployment of Release 1.0 by a few months but would give the Navy a more flexible, expandable system, Feldmann said. The decision will be made over the next few weeks.Regardless of which version they choose, Navy officials expect to reap significant benefits from the new personnel system.'It's much more efficient to do it electronically,' Feldmann said at a recent Navy-Marine Corps Intranet press briefing.The homogeneous environment NMCI provides will make it much easier to upgrade NSIPS, she said.'From a technical refresher perspective, NMCI is a huge boon to this program,' Feldmann said. 'It makes our risk factors go down immeasurably.'Feldmann said the need to develop such a program was clear a decade ago.'In the Gulf War, it became quite obvious that we did not have the capabilities to take the reserves and make them active-duty without the pay getting all messed up,' Feldmann said.'When you're up for a promotion board, or numerous boards that go on, you never know whether your records are correct.'The new system will help the Navy keep personnel records up-to-date, Feldmann said.Other military branches are following suit with their own consolidated electronic personnel and pay systems.The Defense Department's integrated personnel and pay system will replace those now in use throughout DOD. The system is scheduled for initial use by 2003.Also by 2003, the Navy's system will be Web-enabled and will work with smart cards in a public-key infrastructure, Feldmann said. PKI will ensure that only authorized users gain access to the NSIPS database and will protect sensitive personnel applications.The system will include 56 pages of data fields, starting with a sailor's Social Security number, station location, next of kin, job title, schools attended, fitness report and qualifications. Some of the security measures include passwords and transmission via virtual private network.Eventually, the system will span the Navy and will be installed on more than 200 ships as part of the Navy's IT for the 21st Century effort, Feldmann said.The software will let service men and women access their official files and will give commanders quick access to that information over the Web.
All together now
Make it so
'It's much more efficient to do it electronically.'
' CAPT. PEGGY FELDMANN
All together now
Make it so
NEXT STORY: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR