PEO talks about priorities for Business and Enterprise Systems

by Patty Welsh
66th Air Base Group Public Affairs

10/18/2012 - HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- The program executive officer for Business and Enterprise Systems, Maxwell Air Force Base-Gunter Annex, Ala., shared some of his mission objectives and insights about his position during an industry meeting here Oct. 10, 2012.

Robert Carl "Shof" Shofner, speaking at the Hanscom Representatives Association, said until he took on this role, he never realized how much of an impact the organization has.

"I was frankly shocked to learn how much this particular portfolio touches every single Airman every single day," he said.

The BES portfolio consists of 128 different programs or capabilities that cover a range of areas such as personnel, pay, finance, medical and logistics systems. The personnel are also geographically separated in five different states.

"Another way we touch every Airman every single day is when they boot up their computer, because we're responsible for desktop configuration," Shofner added.

Shofner relayed a story of meeting with the Air Force Chief of Staff and telling him that he wouldn't be able to do his job without the BES personnel doing their jobs.

The PEO highlighted three objectives that he has made a priority. First, he is going to focus on balanced execution across the enterprise.

He said significant attention often gets put on the portfolio's three main enterprise resource planning programs: Defense Enterprise Accounting and Management System (DEAMS), Air Force-Integrated Personnel and Pay System (AF-IPPS) and Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS). However, he wants to make sure other programs receive the same amount of focus.

"I want to ensure we don't lose the bubble on other programs," he said. "This is a very diverse and interesting portfolio."

A program he specifically highlighted to show that diversity was one of their medical programs, where they are working to provide electronic medical records/history. He said a critical care team can access that information almost at the point of injury by using a laptop to access the data.

He added that he thinks lessons learned from DEAMS, AF-IPPS and ECSS will be helpful across the portfolio.

The second objective is managing stakeholder's expectations. Shofner said he is currently working to develop and reinforce relationships with those stakeholders. He encouraged industry members to take part in the organization's Vendor Exchange Forums. Information about the forums can be found on the website: www.gunter.af.mil.

The third objective Shofner highlighted was hard work on integration and working toward common standards.

"Integration of our capabilities -- and the relationship with infrastructure -- is the lifeblood," he said. "I've worked on some complicated systems in the past and I've never seen before where integration is more important."

Shofner said BES will be standing up an office to work on the integration piece.

"It's going to be hard, but it's absolutely crucial," he said.

Mentioning that he has only been PEO for about two months, Shofner said his observation has been that he knows that it's going to be challenging.

"This is hard stuff and it's fluid in nature," he said. "But we have incredibly sharp, bright people who are proud of what they do to support not just the Air Force, but the nation."