Delays, technical problems plague Navy's intranet program

Computerworld - Despite the recent fanfare surrounding what the U.S. Navy called a successful test-and-evaluation phase of its $6.9 billion Navy/Marine Corps Intranet (N/MCI) program, significant technical problems and delays could result in a major setback in the program as early as this summer, according to internal memos obtained by Computerworld.

The N/MCI program, which is designed to replace dozens of disparate Navy and Marine Corps computer networks with a centrally managed setup operated by a single contractor, Electronic Data Systems Inc., was due to have 160,000 seats in place by this fall. However, an internal e-mail from EDS's program director for Navy Operating Forces said the program is likely to have 60,000 seats in place by the end of the year.

Adding to the problems, Susan Keen, CIO at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, Md., the first Navy command scheduled to switch to N/MCI-based IT services, has ordered a stop to deployment until all of the problems are fixed.

Meanwhile, to stave off a flurry of criticism from Navy units stemming from the lack of legacy application integration, remote access failures and security-related delays, officials from the Navy and EDS last month discussed a plan that would skirt required preinstallation security certification in favor of meeting an accelerated deployment plan. One official characterized the plan as a "scorched-earth seat rollout" designed to install as many seats as possible without waiting for the necessary security evaluations to be approved.

"We have agreed with [Navy/Marine Corps Intranet director Rear Adm. Charles] Munns and the Navy that ruthlessly rolling seats is the only way for N/MCI to survive and prosper," wrote Mike Hatcher, EDS's N/MCI program director for Navy Operating Forces, in an April 25 e-mail. "To do that, we've proposed to the Navy, and I believe they will accept, that we be given blanket authorization to connect our sites to N/MCI without the need for incessant scanning and awaiting [interim authority to operate] letters," wrote Hatcher. Interim Authority to Operate, or IATO letters, grant N/MCI sites the ability to operate by certifying that they can do so with a manageable level of security risk as set forth by U.S. Defense Department policy.

"So instead of ... standing by for days or weeks awaiting approval to connect, we connect immediately," wrote Hatcher.

Rick Rosenberg, EDS's program executive for N/MCI, characterized the language used in Hatcher's e-mail as nothing more than "a rallying cry for the troops" and said the program was never and is not now in jeopardy of failing. Rosenberg also denied that EDS is deploying any N/MCI systems without Navy authorization or security assurances.