Improving Air Force Enterprise Resource Planning-Enabled Business Transformation

Information technology (IT) has come to play an increasingly significant role in the way organizations conduct business, evolving from a narrow tool for automation to a potential enabler of business transformation.1 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are prime examples of IT systems being pursued by the Department of Defense (DoD) to enable transformation and improve efficiency and effectiveness. ERP systems are configurable, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software packages that enable organizations to integrate operational and management processes across a broad range of internal business activities. The DoD and the military services have implemented or are in the process of implementing several ERP systems to enable business transformation goals and meet the fiscal year (FY) 2017 deadline for auditable consolidated financial statements (Public Law 99 433, 2010). The Air Force is implementing two such systems, the Air Force Integrated Personnel and Pay System (AF-IPPS) and the Defense Enterprise Accounting and Management System (DEAMS), and recently canceled a third, Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS). These ERPs were initiated with the intent of improving the effectiveness of the Air Force s business functions and providing operational support to the warfighter (e.g., through improved visibility and management of personnel and other assets). Importantly, especially in an era of constrained budgets, these ERPs were also intended to reduce the cost of Air Force business functions, which compete with operations and modernization for funds. Implementing an ERP system can confer a range of benefits to an organization (e.g., see Davenport, 2000; Eckartz, 2009; Shang, 2002; Staehr, 2010).