Page 27 - Australian Defence Magazine July 2019

about to fall over
MILIS is responsible for large parts of the ADF’s logistics management systems.
program (enterprise resource management/ enterprise information management). The CIOG-run program has gone through a number of planning iterations based on in- ternal budget movements, various industry engagements and some extremely long de- lays in government approvals.
“The SAP-based Defence enterprise re- source planning (ERP) solution will offer significant improvements in functionality and process optimisation over the exist- ing human resources, logistics, financial, engineering and maintenance applica- tions used in Defence, including MILIS,” the Defence statement said. “It will also enable a level of integration across those functions that is not currently available to Defence, and has proven capabil-
ity to operate in deployed and dis- connected environments.
“The Department’s transition to SAP will be carefully planned to ensure that there is no loss of capa- bility over the transition period.”
Less than a day later, Defence updated the ERP/EIM timeline when further questioned by ADM.
“The Defence ERP solution
based on SAP technology is
planned for implementation dur-
ing the financial year 2022-23. Defence has developed a range of risk mitigation strate- gies to ensure that MILIS is sustained un- til the replacement capability is rolled out, minimising the likelihood of any opera- tional impact.”
Leadership
There is also a question of ERP/EIM leader- ship on the CIOG front as former program lead Air Vice Marshal Peter Yates left his contract barely half way through its five- year term, commenting that “a revised ERP program management structure has been developed and an industry expert will join Defence within this new structure.”
ADM understands that industry has re- ceived no formal update as to the timing and scope of the ERP/EIM programs since the program received Gate 2 approval from government last year, with the selection of partner with up to two systems integrators seemingly in limbo. The program is now
looking to offer capability in a different sequence and much later than proposed to government at Gate 2.
ADM comment
What this all means is that the logistics backbone of the ADF is run on a pro- gram written in a language that no one now uses. The OEM has walked away from the program, and have been warn- ing Defence of the risks related to the system for well over five years. CIOG literally has nobody leading its biggest program and hasn’t for months. Having said that, a new program office structure is to be in place this month, Defence con- firmed in the same statement.
end of 2020. The system will remain in place until the functionality is replaced by SAP,” a Defence spokesperson initially said. “De- fence commissioned an industry assessment of MILIS to determine its sustainability. The assessment found that the system is currently stable and can be sustained beyond 2020. There are a number of service providers with experience supporting legacy systems that Defence will draw on to ensure MILIS is sustained until it is decommissioned.”
Industry sources close to the program have confirmed that the MILIS environ- ment can operate beyond 2020 ‘as long as nothing is changed’, likening the system to a house of cards that is likely to tumble ‘if someone even looks at it wrong’.
Replacement
Replacement of MILIS is being conducted under the multi-billion dollar ERP/EIM
The lack of public information on one of the Australian government’s biggest ICT programs is also startling. The program does not rate a mention in the Budget pa- pers, Defence Annual Report or ANAO’s Major Program Reports despite a listed value of between $1-2 billion.
When former Minister for Defence Senator Marise Payne launched the 2016 White Paper and its related documents, the tongue in cheek description of Defence IT as ‘retro’ was fitting. While many of the systems have come a long way since that time, there are still huge pockets of retro issues that will not be easily solved. The huge integrated nature of the system means that any replacement will have to deal with these interdependencies at an organisation- wide level, ensuring that capability can still be delivered during transition.
Defence says it is trying to do that. But ig- noring the dying canary in the mine is not a strategy that shows much promise.
www.australiandefence.com.au | July 2019 | 27
“ADM understands that
ABB formally notified Defence late last year that it will not supporting MILIS past 2020.”