NORFOLK, Va. (December 7, 2021)—Members of Military Sealift Command’s Business Management Systems’(N-6) team completed a shift of the command’s logistics and engineering business systems to the cloud, Dec. 5.
“The MSC N-6 team migrated the Logistics and Engineering Business Systems from the on-premises data center environment in Charleston, South Carolina, to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosted cloud environment,” according to Thomas Knowlton, Military Sealift Command’s Business Systems’ Applications Branch Manager, Logistics and Engineering Cloud Migration Lead “The migration focused on an infrastructure change with no change to business system functionality with minimal impact to functional end-users.”
MSC completed the shift in business management systems as part of the U.S. Navy’s effort to migrate Department of the Navy Information Systems to a cloud-based platform in support of the Navy “Cloud First” memorandum, signed by the Deputy Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer DDCIO(N) in February 2017, which established the policy for the Navy to “design, transfer, host, operate and sustain information technology capabilities with commercial cloud service providers hosting environments to the maximum extent possible.
“Cloud uses third-party servers to host data as opposed to local data centers (i.e. ‘on-premises solution),” Knowlton stated. “MSC identified and analyzed cloud broker alternatives and selected AWS for their cloud environment. “Logistics and engineering systems migrated from the on-premises data center, the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic Component Enterprise Data Center (CEDC) in Charleston, South Carolina.”
According to Knowlton, the specific business management systems applications which MSC moved to the cloud environment were comprised of the Corrective Maintenance Logistics System (CMLS), the Shipboard Automated Maintenance System (SAMM) Ashore, and Identity Management (IDAM).
Knowlton provided a description of how MSC uses the migrated business systems:
• CMLS is a comprehensive suite of logistics modules used for activities such as supply chain management and warehouse and inventory management. CMLS allows MSC to maintain up-to-date and accurate fleet-wide configuration data and supply management information.
• SAMM is used by ashore and afloat personnel for preventative and predictive maintenance and condition monitoring. SAMM enables MSC to schedule organizational level maintenance required tasks, monitor maintenance completion, update/replicate new or updated maintenance procedures and technical documentation, and report ship/class/fleet maintenance posture, completion, and asset maintenance status.
• IDAM uses the Microsoft Active Directory to provide workflow capabilities to ensure new Logistics and Engineering systems account requests are properly vetted through system owners, information assurance/security and operations staff and provisioned to meet user needs.
Knowlton stated that, “benefits of cloud hosted logistics and engineering systems include improvement to system performance for critical ashore and afloat services, reduction in system outages which disrupt functional end-user work, increased Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP)/Disaster Recovery (DR) capabilities, protection against disruptions in contested environments, and development of a foundation for implementation of ‘Cloud’-native capabilities such as container-based infrastructure, micro-services, and a continuous-integration and continuous-delivery model.”
According to Knowlton, end users of the shifted business management incurred a minimal impact during the move to the cloud.
“MSC’s Logistics and engineering system migration to cloud was largely seamless to end users as changes were primarily focused on the backend infrastructure rather than the frontend application layer, the minor exception being secure end-user access to SAMM from non-NMCI, or commercial computers,” Knowlton said. “Non-NMCI access to SAMM will be via AppStream 2.0 which replaces the legacy Citrix solution used by the on-premises CEDC. End users will benefit from the migration by increased system performance and fewer system outages.”
The Logistics and Engineering cloud migration project kicked off in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 with the Cloud Readiness Assessment and course of action preparation.
“The Logistics and Engineering systems were included in the initial cloud migration based on the Cloud Readiness Assessment which deemed these systems the most cloud-ready, with optimal benefit to critical MSC services,” said Knowlton. “As such, there was very little pregame impact to the functional end users of the systems.”
“During the migration, N-6 engaged the end users in status communications frequently to apprise of migration status and timeframes for end-user testing,” he added. “Impact to functional end users of future business systems to be migrated will be determined at the beginning of each migration effort and built into mutually approved plans.
MSC’s plan is to ultimately have all of MSC business systems hosted in the cloud.
“N-6 developed and successfully managed a comprehensive, yet flexible migration plan that was approved by MSC, all levels of the N-6 organization, functional end-user groups, and service provider teams,” said Knowlton. “Buy-in at all levels and across all groups and participation in a common, visible goal was instrumental in completing first-time migration activities.”
Knowlton concluded by offering advice to MSC teammates who will undergo future business system migrations to the cloud.
“Be realistic with risk and issue identification and mitigation,” he offered. “Thoroughly explore what you know and don’t know about the migration and plan accordingly. Solicit lessons learned from comparable organizations.”
“Finally, plan adequate time for third-party tasks such as Cloud Broker establishment, RMF/ATO approval, and external service providers as third parties may still be new to adapting to cloud and require supplemental justification and extended timeframes for completing related tasks,” Knowlton concluded. “MSC will continue plan and refine our cloud operations to ensure we are pressing the envelope with cutting edge technology in order to provide the best service to our ships and Civil Service Mariners operating at sea.”
| Date Taken: | 12.05.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.08.2021 12:51 |
| Story ID: | 410736 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 715 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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