[Infowarrior] - NMCI Contract $9.3B : "using the oldest software possible"

[Richard Forno]

Waiting for NMCI

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/12/marine_NMCI_071208w/

Even Œsatisfied¹ customers find computer network frustrating
By Michael  Hoffman - _mhoffman at militarytimes.
Posted  : Saturday Dec 8, 2007 7:33:24 EST

The Navy-Marine Corps  Intranet, better known as NMCI, has spawned numerous
nicknames over its  seven-year existence, most of them far less
complimentary than ³No More  Contracted Infosystems,² one of the few clean
enough for print.

It¹s also become a verb ‹ ³I¹ve been NMCIed!² ‹ generally screamed by a
Marine or sailor in frustration after a spectacular computer crash.

So when the officials who manage NMCI announced a user satisfaction rating
of 83.8 percent in November, based on a quarterly survey issued by the
private  company contracted to run it, the results raised a few eyebrows
across the  services.

Ask the average Marine, sailor or civilian who uses NMCI for an opinion of
the system and prepare to get an earful. While some report few problems, the
majority have vivid recollections of waiting, waiting, waiting.

Waiting for an actual fix after a call to the help desk. Waiting up to 20
minutes for the computer to log on. Waiting, sometimes months, to receive
administrative privileges to add vital software. Waiting for permission to
add  local or network printers. Waiting weeks to transfer accounts from one
base to  another.

Waiting for a modern computer system that operates up to present-day
industry standards.

Officials with Electronic Data Systems, the corporation that won the
10-year, $9.3 billion NMCI contract that started in 2000, and Col. Lyle
Cross,  the program manager for NMCI, said the system has improved over the
past seven  years, which is shown by the results of the survey.

³We¹re not saying everything is perfect,² said Nate Paier, EDS director for
NMCI client satisfaction and quality. ³But our track record is always
satisfying  users more and more.²

Cross said the increase in customer satisfaction is due to quicker response
to problems with NMCI, a result of the help of a large number of probes
distributed throughout the network this year. The probes alert NMCI staff
members to systemic issues with the network.

However, both EDS and NMCI officials said they still depend on customer
surveys the most to target problems. EDS issues the questionnaire four times
a  year to 189,000 Marines, sailors and civilians, randomly selected from
the pool  of 660,000 using it. Only 15,000 users completed the most recent
survey, about 8  percent, but 7,000 of those took the additional time to
write in personal comments.

Program officials were unable to provide data on how many users provided
responses to the previous surveys.

ŒSatisfied¹ customer defined Those who fill out the survey ‹ which EDS  and
Cross refused to provide to Marine Corps Times because they said it could
skew future results ‹ rate each category on a 1-to-10 scale. After all the
ratings are averaged, a score of 5.5 or higher is considered a satisfied
customer.

The 83.8 percent satisfaction rating is an improvement on the 74 percent
rating NMCI received last year but still falls below the program¹s stated
target  of 85 percent, which NMCI has never reached since its inception.

The Government Accountability Office issued a report criticizing NMCI last
year, citing the poor customer survey results and questioning exactly how
satisfied a customer truly is if providing a rating of seven or less.

³Given that the Navy¹s definition of the term Œsatisfied¹ includes many
marginally satisfied and arguably somewhat dissatisfied users,² the users
with  an average satisfaction rating between 5.5 and seven would be more
accurately  defined as only ³marginally satisfied,² according to GAO¹s
report titled ³ DoD  Needs to Ensure That Navy Marine Corps Intranet Program
Is Meeting Goals and  Satisfying Customers.²

The most recent survey showed 66 percent gave the program a rating of seven
or above, according to an NMCI release.

Cpl. Joseph Staunches, who works at the traffic management office at Marine
Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga., said the TMO shop at his last station at
Camp  Butler, Okinawa, has waited more than four months to get approval to
update software used to track cargo.

³They are using the oldest software possible out there,² he said.

Francis Villamie, a retired gunnery sergeant who runs the education office
at Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., used the same computer
without  an upgrade for seven years. Not until two months ago did he receive
his first computer upgrade, which finally helped alleviate the excruciating
delays between  operations.

³It would take me 20 minutes to boot up the system,² he said. ³I would come
in, in the morning, and turn on the computer and then have time to go have a
cigarette and a cup of coffee before it would come up.²

Paier said EDS has continued to enhance and optimize the back end of the
network¹s infrastructure in the past year, adding more servers and improving
firewalls, which might not be immediately noticed by Marines and sailors.
EDS  also upgraded more than 100,000 personal computers this year, which he
said  makes a tangible difference that users such as Villamie can see.

³We found that the performance bottleneck was happening at the PC or the
desktop,² Paier said.

Slowed by security concerns Some NMCI users are seeing improvements,  such
as Information Systems Technician 1st Class Kenyell Brown, who works for
the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command and rates herself as one of the
satisfied. Many Marines and sailors forget how important and necessary the
security features that sometimes slow the system are, she said.

³Working here really opened my eyes to security for networks,² Brown  said.

Retired Cmdr. Randall Grau, who works at Space and Naval Warfare Systems
Command as a civilian, has heard the saying ³I¹ve been NMCIed,² but he said
too  many Marines and sailors expect their government computers to operate
like their  home computers.

³Too many people forget and don¹t take into account the security
considerations and threats involved,² he said.

Others said the security considerations could be satisfied without all the
headaches that have been encountered since EDS took over the computer
network  from military personnel.

Requesting administrative privileges each time they need to add key pieces
of software or printers to their computers is a common chore for Marines and
sailors on NMCI. EDS is trying to cut down on wait times, said Kevin
Durking,  EDS vice president for NMCI client advocacy and customer
satisfaction.

While Marines and sailors wait for the necessary administrative privileges
or the necessary contracted technician to respond to a computer problem,
that¹s time not being spent accomplishing the mission, said Sgt. Adam
Dickerson, an administrative Marine with Headquarters Support Battalion at
Camp Lejeune,  N .C.

³They¹ll never live up to the standards of the Marine Corps,² he said. ³It
will never be as easy as just having Marines down the hall to fix  it.²