The Security Cooperation Management Suite: information, visibility and responsiveness.

The security cooperation (SC) community is gaining a valuable new source of information on foreign military sales (FMS) goods and services, spanning the full range from request to delivery. A new management suite, hosted via the Security Cooperation Information Portal (SCIP), will provide both the U.S. and our international partners new access to key information needed to track progress and assure project success.

This community, in 2007, identified a need for a common operating picture of FMS products and services. To fulfill this need, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) sponsored the Navy Supply Information Systems Activity (NAVSISA) and Defense Security Assistance Development Center (DSADC) to develop a software application to provide better visibility of FMS case execution, procurement, and delivery. This effort began as a prototype for Iraq, one of the community's top priorities. It was dubbed the Iraq common operating picture (COP). The COP was fielded in less than a year and impressing users and leadership with its value was quickly expanded to include Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Lebanon.

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The application was renamed the Security Cooperation Management Suite (SCMS) to reflect a broader mandate. As a common operating picture for FMS, SCMS was expanded to cover all regions and countries. It provides better visibility and more complete information to a wide variety of U.S. agencies and war fighters. SCMS targets the types of technical and managerial information necessary to permit well-informed decisions, and improve FMS contracting and transportation responsiveness. It gives access to key delivery information. And hosted via SCIE SCMS offers the advantage of availability--to those users who already have the access, approvals, and system knowledge to go right to work.

Prior to SCMS, relevant parties relied on multiple sources of data and manual processes to track and update the status of defense articles and services procured through FMS. SCMS gives users quick access to:

* Information on case development

* Case execution

* Contracting

* Requisitions

* Financials

* Transportation information via a single centralized repository

SCMS facilitates case and material tracking using milestones within the FMS process. It allows the user to customize reports in support of unique requirements. Access rights allow select users to input data and pull information according to need and authority. SCMS offers new details and insight regarding transportation data by connecting to the Global Transportation Network (GTN) and leveraging SCIP's Enhanced Freight Tracking System (EFTS) for delivery and freight forwarder information. Together, these capabilities enable trend analysis and better decision-making.

The benefits are apparent. Lieutenant Colonel Joe Lontos, DSCA Iraq Country Program Director, stated:

   SCMS provides the community a vertical--Theater, DSCA, service,
   Commodity Command, Geographic Combatant Command (GCC), Office of
   Secretary of Defense (OSD), and Joint Staff--interactive, web-based
   collaborative tool to ensure that the FMS process, service
   contracting, and defense transportation systems are effectively
   bundled into a flexible and responsive solution for requirements
   generated by real-time Stability, Reconstruction, and Contingency
   Operations.

SCMS resides within SCIE which is developed and maintained by DSADC. In leveraging the capabilities of SCIE SCMS receives fresh data daily from all relevant sources. DSCA, the military departments, and other stakeholders will be able to recommend new system enhancements as requirements evolve. The system's rapid development via seven major releases since April 2008 was due, in large part, to a clear vision of purpose and active user feedback during Program Management Reviews. In October of last year [2008], SCMS was deployed worldwide. For more information on access to SCMS, its capabilities, and "how to" information, go to https://www.scportal.us/home.

Captain Paul Verrastro

Defense Security Cooperation Agency

Program Manager for Security Cooperation Management Suite

and

Susan Bradley

Navy Supply Information Systems Activity

Project Manager for Security Cooperation Management Suite

and

Tom Sippel

Defense Security Cooperation Agency

Defense Security Assistance Development Center

Security Cooperation Information Portal Program Manager

Captain Paul Verrastro, Security Cooperation, U.S. Navy, is the DSCA Program Manager for SCMS as well as the Country Program Director for Coalition Affairs, North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Georgia.

Ms. Susan Bradley is the NAVSISA Project Manager for SCMS.

Mr. Tom Sippel is the DSCA/DSADC SCIP Program Manager.