Accenture has secured a major contract to provide the US Air Force (USAF) with a substantial upgrade of its human resources, holiday management and payroll functions. The contract has been valued at about $50 million and is expected to deliver a wide-ranging modernization project for facilities that support more than 600,000 USAF personnel.
The contract is managed by Accenture’s Federal Services division and will involve the delivery of both web-enabled and ERP solutions for the Air Force. It’s being provided under the terms of a three-year base performance period.
The Air Force Integrated Personnel and Pay System (AFIPPS) is managed by its own program management office, which will work closely with Accenture on the project. The objective is to launch an intuitive and secure systems that brings the USAF some of the key technological advantages of a modern ERP system, including accurate and timely information for users.
The project combines the existing pay and personnel processes under a single ERP umbrella structure which is also expected to reduce overall costs of operation for the USAF.
“The AFIPPS contract demonstrates the Air Force’s commitment to modernize its business practices and provide enhanced support for today’s service members and their families,†says George Batsakis, the military services head at Accenture Federal Services. “We’re honored to help the Air Force advance its innovation agenda and support HR modernization to better support the people who serve our nation.â€
Accenture is already recognized as major provider of Oracle ERP implementations. It has worked on more then 1500 of these, including for many government-related programs, among them the Defense MilPay Office Entitlement Calculations Modernization and the Air Force’s own Defense Enterprise Accounting Management System (DEAMS) program.
Accenture Federal Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Accenture. Based in Arlington, Virginia, it has served every cabinet-level department and 30 of the largest federal organizations during its history. The fact that it already works on large government ERP projects, including those with a national security element, made it a front runner in the contest for this latest Air Force contract.
AFIPPS itself is already designed to meet existing Department of Defense requirements for pay and accounting standards as well as the Common Human Resource Information Standards.
Accenture has been an active and principal participant in the Air Force’s major ERP overhaul, including the final phase of DEAMS, which is the Air Force’s effort to comply with the Defense Department’s Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness Plan.
Key Takeaways:
- Accenture’s Federal Services unit has secured a $50 million ERP contract by which it will carry out a wide-ranging improvement of the USAF’s existing payroll and human resources functionality.
- The three-year project will result in a major modernization raising the USAF’s human resources capabilities to the standards of modern HR and payroll practices.
- The contract follows a $75 million Accenture contract awarded for an overhaul of the USAF’s DEAMS program, which saw the Air Force bring its financial reporting measures in line with new Defense Department requirements.