Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Business Transformation) (Feb. 3, 2006): appointment of assistant deputy under secretaries of defense within AT & L.

In a memorandum dated Feb. 3, 2006, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Business Transformation Paul A. Brinkley announced the establishment of two new positions within the Office of Business Transformation. The first is the assistant deputy under secretary of defense for business integration. Elizabeth McGrath will fill the position of ADUSD(BI). The second is the assistant deputy under secretary of defense for strategic sourcing and acquisition processes. Mark Krzysko will be the new ADUSD(SS & AP).

McGrath will serve as the advisor and assistant on all issues regarding establishment of the Business Transformation Agency (BTA) and its relationship with the principal staff assistants (PSAs) within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. She will also work directly with PSA organizations within OSD to ensure that appropriate support relationships are established between the Business Transformation Agency and the PSAs.

McGrath will also include directly establishing and overseeing administrative support of the BTA, while working with the BTA operations office to ensure budgetary, contract management, human resource management, and agency support functions operate using best industry and government practices. She will also facilitate the cooperative management of the BTA between her office and the deputy under secretary of defense (financial management).

Krzysko will serve on the staff as AT & L's advisor on matters relating to acquisition and sourcing processes and initiatives across the Department of Defense. He will serve as the focal point linking the functional communities of DoD's business mission area for specific strategic initiatives. This includes coalescing ongoing efforts throughout AT & L offices and engaging federal agencies to leverage, develop, and implement cohesive strategies for sourcing and acquisition that connect appropriately with federal-level initiatives.

Krzysko will also support the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Federal Procurement Policy as they establish federal direction for strategic sourcing. He will ensure the offices of the Deputy Under Secretary for Acquisition and Technology; Director, Acquisition Resources and Analysis; and Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy are aligned into a cohesive effort.

Then-acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England established the Business Transformation Agency on Oct. 7, 2005, according to the agency's Web site <http://www.dod.mil/bta/>. The agency will coordinate DoD's business transformation activities that, among other things, seek to reduce system redundancies and cut department operating costs.

According to documents available on the agency's Web site, strategic sourcing is "the collaborative and structured process of critically analyzing an organization's spending and using this information to make business decisions about acquiring commodities and services more effectively and efficiently."

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has made the modernization, or transformation, of DoD's business operations a top priority. The department is slated to invest $4.2 billion for agencywide business modernization this fiscal year.