The NMCI Experience and Lessons Learned. The Consolidation of Networks by Outsourcing

Abstract : The Navy/Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) has been an initiative to provide a single, secure, enterprise-wide network to support the naval shore establishment and tie it to the forces at sea by interfacing with the at-sea network. The plan has been to link 360,000 desktops into one seamless and secure intranet, sharing voice, video, and data services. It is an $8.8B performance-based services contract with Electronic Data Systems (EDS), initially awarded in October 2000. The scale of NMCI as an information network is second only to the internet itself clearly an enormous effort. NMCI has replaced the fractionated legacy networks of the Navy and Marines with a secure, single, shore-based network. Since its inception, however, the program has been beset with problems. Delays in the fielding of the network have resulted in substantial financial losses for EDS. Customer satisfaction, upon which payments to the contractor depend, has not been uniformly high. Operational users feel that the centralized support approach provides them with less than satisfactory responsiveness in resolving network issues in support of operational situations. The main question is does this network provide sufficient performance to support the net-centric operational needs of the Navy and Marine Corps? In this case study, we will investigate these issues and provide some lessons learned to support the future evolution of NMCI as well as other military networks.