Making the most of a consolidated C2 Framework, by Grant McHerron, from MILCIS 2017
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Grant McHerron delivered this presentation on C2 Systems and Consolidated frameworks at the recent MILCIS 2017 Conference in Canberra.
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Making the most of a consolidated C2 Framework, by Grant McHerron, from MILCIS 2017
- 1. MAKING THE MOST OF A CONSOLIDATED C2 FRAMEWORK GRANT MCHERRON
- 2. OVERVIEW • Primary Challenge is converting C2 information into timely, beneficial knowledge • Benefits of having in-house reporting on demand without reliance on vendors or your own IT department • Awareness of Data Ownership and Information Silos • Whole of Force reporting, analysis and comparisons
- 3. THE DATA IN C2 SYSTEMS • Computer based C2 Systems are accumulating enormous amounts of unit level operations data in their databases. • C2 systems also accumulate information relating to training courses, asset management and personnel status. • If accessed and examined correctly, this information can be used to identify trends, determine the impacts of procedure changes and perform “what if” analysis.
- 4. STANDARD EXTRACTS NOT SUFFICIENT • Many C2 systems provide extracts of information through pre-defined reports that are then converted to spreadsheets • Required information may not be supplied in the “standard” reports and extracts • Staff then manipulate spreadsheets which can introduce errors leading to reduced trust in the information being presented
- 5. WAYS ACCESS TO INFORMATION CAN BE IMPEDED • Lack of suitable installed reporting tools • No access to the information for approved staff • No instructions showing how information is stored in the database(s) • Time and cost associated with obtaining new reports from a vendor or IT department. • Information trapped in platform specific silos • No common information elements across Platforms and/or C2 Systems
- 6. DATA MINING A C2 SYSTEM • Allow staff to work with in-house SMEs to determine suitable metrics and reports • Reports can then be produced and refined as required without waiting for the vendor or IT department • Opportunities can be identified and results obtained in very short periods of time, allowing more analysis to be performed and key information extracted quickly
- 7. REAL WORLD EXAMPLES The Finland Air Force analysed historical maintenance information from their FlightPro™ system • This allowed them to improve the accuracy of their rectification estimates for a variety of unservicabilities • In turn, this lead to improved scheduling of sorties due to better forecasting of asset availability They also analysed historical sortie cancellation rates and reasons • This allowed them to identify months when weather related cancellations were most common • In turn, this lead to improved on-time course graduations due to increased sortie scheduling that accommodated the likelihood of weather cancellations
- 8. EXPANDING TO WHOLE OF FORCE REPORTING • Trained staff accessing information from one or two C2 systems is only the beginning • Can now expand to “whole of force” reporting • Provide common assessment across multiple platforms • Need to avoid typical issues that block information access
- 9. COMMON INFORMATION ELEMENTS • Whole of Force reporting requires standards for coding common information elements – Eg: qualifications, mission outcomes, training results, etc. • Difficult to obtain comparisons across all platforms and divisions without a common standard • These must be driven from the HQ level
- 10. WHO OWNSYOUR DATA? • Are your C2 systems on your own servers? • Can approved staff access C2 data as required? • Is access only through the vendor’s screens & utilities?
- 11. AVOID INFORMATION SILOS • Some C2 systems are linked to a specific platform or division • Cannot easily aggregate information across multiple platforms • A common C2 system across all platforms & divisions can address this issue
- 12. THE DATA WAREHOUSE If you need to source information from multiple sources, you may need to set up a DataWarehouse • Added expense of a new system (infrastructure, deployment, maintenance) • Implementation of business rules to extract data from sources and transform it into common structures & classifications • Ongoing maintenance & updates of the business rules.
- 13. CONSOLIDATED C2 SYSTEMS Consolidation provides a base forWhole of Force reporting
- 14. BENEFITS OF WHOLE OF FORCE REPORTING Whole of Force reporting via consolidated C2 Systems and/or a data warehouse can provide: • Visibility of changes to maintenance processes • Impact of changing spares management • Benchmarking across units, divisions & platforms • Identification of areas of improvement • Highlight developing issues • Evidence of the impact from aging assets
- 15. REAL WORLD EXAMPLES • RAAF’s 44WG using trend analysis reports to project the number of people required at each flight to sustain operations. • RAAF’s HQAC using reports on sortie cancellations across all platforms to identify maintenance issues, compare platform utilisation rates and assess third party contractual KPIs.
- 16. WRAP & Q&A • A consolidated C2 system across all platforms provides the best foundation to prepare whole-of-force comparisons. • New platforms with specific C2 systems must be assessed against their ability to interface with existing systems to avoid creation of data silos. • Creation of a data warehouse will be required if a single C2 system is not feasible. • Approved staff should be provided with tools, skills & access to allow in-house production of reports faster and at less cost than using C2 system vendors. • Insights and Knowledge can be obtained from the information in C2 systems but the identified issues must be addressed to facilitate access and analysis through the application of effective metrics.
Editor's Notes
- Introduction Note that this presentation is based on an article first presented in Australian Defence Magazine (Feb 2017)
- These are the primary items covered in this presentation. There will be time for a quick Q&A at the end if required.
- More and more computer systems are being used by Defence Forces around the world. There is a wealth of information within these systems. This information can be converted into knowledge & insight to support tactical, operational and strategic decision making. There are many road blocks that can prevent efficient access to this information.
- Many of the reports & extracts provided with C2 systems are “standard” or were defined during implementation. At first they can be a wonderful source of information but soon you discover you need to include additional items. Going back to the vendor or your IT department to adjust the reports can take too long & cost too much. In many cases, staff merge multiple extracts & reports in spreadsheets and manipulate the information themselves. This can introduce unforeseen errors in the information.
- Now that you have identified the need for more information, here are some of the common issues preventing your effective access. The first few relate having your staff perform the work while the last two represent design considerations. These will be covered in more detail in the subsequent slides.
- Just as you wouldn’t go into battle without effective tools and training, so too you should not expect to obtain useful knowledge and insight from your information without the right access levels, tools, and training. Typical tools include Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, Crystal Reports and other readily obtained packages. The system vendor(s) should be able to provide Data Dictionaries that provide maps showing how your information is stored in their database(s). Your Subject Matter Experts are key to helping you identify new or improved reports and key metrics that can be applied. Once established, this will allow you to start data mining from your system(s) to obtain insights and improve your operations.
- An excellent example of users producing reports can be found with our customer in Finland. Their staff produced reports showing maintenance & sortie cancellation information. Updates to these reports and the application of metrics suggested by their SMEs provided insights into improving their operations. With accurate estimates of unservicability downtimes, they were no longer forced to update schedules at the last minute when assets were returned from maintenance much sooner or later than expected. By determining that during Winter they were only getting 80% of their scheduled sorties completed, they were able to increase sorties sufficiently to meet expectations without having to overschedule assets and crew
- Reporting on a single unit or platform can improve lower level operations but “Whole of Force” reporting is required to obtain maximum benefits from the information in your C2 systems. Unfortunately there are a number of issues that can get in the way of obtaining a high-level view of your information.
- A key component of “Whole of Force” reporting is ensuring you have a common baseline to report from. All platforms and units must have a common way of expressing sortie results, qualifications, currencies, etc. If one platform’s C2 system refers to asset status or sortie results using different codes to all other platforms it is difficult to compare their availability or sortie rates with the rest of your platforms. HQ staff must work with all units to determine common definitions for these information elements and then ensure they are used across all platforms and C2 systems.
- One of the key issues currently being discussed is data ownership and access to that data, both internally & externally. Does your vendor provide access to the data in their system’s database or is it locked away behind their screens & reports? Does your vendor provide you with a data dictionary so that you can understand the relationships within the database and how your information is being stored?
- Silos of data make it very difficult to obtain a consolidated view across all platforms and divisions. This is typically found when a new platform is introduced that provides its own C2 system. These silos of information have their own methods for coding common information elements. Ideally a single C2 system would be used across all platforms as this will facilitate the coding of common information elements and access to the necessary information in the database.
- A data warehouse system is the best option for providing “Whole of Force” reporting if you are unable to establish a common C2 system across all platforms. Each new C2 system you need to access will increase the need for a data warehouse, increasing the scope of responsibility of your IT department. Data warehouses come with their own issues, including those listed here. You also have to ensure the information is kept up to date and accurately reflects the information in the downstream systems. The effort required to produce a data warehouse can be considerable but is often the only solution when attempting to provide whole-of-Force reporting and analysis without a common C2 system.
- This is the C2 system structure goal that will provide the best platform to support Whole of Force reporting. A common C2 system or Data Warehouse will allow you to establish standardised coding for common information elements and facilitate access to information across multiple platforms
- Once your staff can obtain information from specific C2 Systems, you now need to expand to Whole of Force reporting to facilitate common assessment across multiple platforms. These are just some of the comparisons that can be performed across platforms and divisions once you have access to “Whole of Force” reporting.
- The 44WG HQ is using these reports to determine the numbers of people they need to recruit & train in order to sustain ATC capability. Well-designed reports that monitor operator hours and missions will ensure opportunities are balanced across all available operators. Training assessment metrics are capable of going beyond simply reviewing failure rates and general course results. They can be used to gauge exam effectiveness, analyse responses to individual questions and improve consistency across instructors. They can also identify questions that need to be re-written, course materials that should be updated and students who are struggling to pass.
- In summary, provided you can address the identified issues, empowered staff with the right tools can work with SMEs to quickly access a consolidated C2 system (or a data warehouse) in order to produce effective “Whole of Force” reports that give you the insights required to help improve operations.