IBM and EIM Help U.S. Army with Business Processes

IBM  has announced results from a program to automate business processes for the United States Army Publishing Directorate . It allows the digitization of all human resource, personnel, logistics and forms processes for the Army, and will help the U.S. Army save more than $1.3 billion annually.

 

To achieve these savings, the APD, with the help of IBM (News - Alert) and the EIM Corporation, created the Army Publishing Content Managing System (APCMS). APCMS supports the automation of any business process using tools that have already been deployed across the Army to support 1.4 million Active Duty, Reserve, Guard, civilian and other contractor personnel.

 

The US Army is reusing this infrastructure and services to save on costs and resources for other important Army programs. Like, the US Army Medical Community using it to automate the US Army Medical Evaluation Boards and submissions processes for soldiers who get injured.

 

"With the deployment of the Army Publishing Content Management System, the Army enterprise has been transformed to better support the war-fighter," states Susan Maks, Director, Army Publishing Directorate.

 

She adds, "APCMS delivers a fully electronic solution and represents a major shift away from traditional forms-based business applications with our goal being the elimination of paper-intensive processes, as a result saving time, money, and resources."

 

APCMS infrastructure supports applications like The Army Officer Evaluation/Non-Commissioned Officer Evaluation Reporting System (OER/NCOER) System, the OER / NCOER System supports military evaluations and promotions, linking Department of Defense databases and new electronic signature and advanced workflow technology. APCMS also supports The Army Awards System.

 

The EIM Corporation delivered the APCMS program which also includes web-based process automation, XML smart forms, single sign on (SSO) integration, and document and records management, through the Army Knowledge Online (AKO) site. 

 

Dave McQueeney, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Federal Team, IBM, says "The Army is taking advantage of reusable services to modernize critical enterprise functions in support of the war-fighter."

McQueeney continues, "The APCMS program is also providing a model and blueprint that we are using to augment the recently announced IBM Government Network Centric Operations Framework."