Built Portfolio Management Solution for the USAF. Great success. Resulted in very efficient program budget review from AF leaders. Presented at Oracle OpenWorld.

1. Air Force-Wide Portfolio
Management Solution
Carolyn Reid
May 2011

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US AF Oracle PPM Implementation
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................3
The Business Need.......................................................................................................................................................3
The Solution .................................................................................................................................................................3
Project Scope ...............................................................................................................................................................4
USAF Organization ................................................................................................................................4
USAF Portfolio Management Process...................................................................................................5
Process Areas...............................................................................................................................................................5
Initial Pilot – Resource Management....................................................................................................5
Compliance Management.....................................................................................................................7
Capabilities Management.....................................................................................................................7
Lifecycle Management..........................................................................................................................7
Lessons Learned...........................................................................................................................................................8
Results..........................................................................................................................................................................8
Summary......................................................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
In 2007, the US Air Force (USAF) contracted Primavera (now part of Oracle) to implement their
Primavera Portfolio Management (PPM) (formerly ProSight) application. Oracle partnered with Guident
consultants for this project. OPPM was
implemented to help the Air Force achieve the
best mix of forces, manpower, materiel, and
support under very tight fiscal constraint. This
paper will discuss the business need, the
solution, project activities, lessons learned and
the benefit to the Air Force.
The Business Need
Based on an internal review aimed at
transforming the Secretary of the Air Force
(SAF/CIO A6) division to a process-based
organization, the USAF determined that they
needed to improve Portfolio Management for
the entire Planning, Programming, Budget and
Execution Lifecycle.
An audit of USAF IT PfM recommended that SAF/XC (Chief of Warfighting Integration and CIO) procure a
commercial off-the-shelf tool to assist the levels of PfM in the USAF. SAF/XC analyzed the alternatives
to choose an application, and selected ProSight. The audit findings provided several issues to be
addressed:
• Resolve data integrity issues,
• Improve accessibility of data,
• Improve processes throughout the USAF,
• Eliminate redundant systems and processes,
• Eliminate the manual transfer of data for reporting purposes,
• Provide visibility into the impact of funding decisions,
• Centralize data.
The Solution
The USAF implemented OPPM to drive an effective enterprise-wide solution to support planning,
creating, assessing, balancing and communicating the execution of the USAF Portfolio, as per the
How big is the Air Force?
Personnel:
• 350,000 Active
• 69,000 Reserve
• 95,000 Air National Guard
• 57,000 Civil Air Patrol
• 151,000 Civilians
Assets:
• 5,800 Aircraft (2,200 are Fighters)
• 2,200 Cruise Missiles
• 450 ICBMs
• 180 Combat Aerial Vehicles
• 32 Satellites
Budget: $170B (FY2011)

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Department of Defense's (DOD) Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) process. The
PPBE process was designed for DOD allocation of resources. The goal of PPBE is to achieve the best mix
of forces, manpower, materiel, and support under very tight fiscal constraint. This supports the USAF
goal to optimize the use of scarce resources to support strategic goals and the Warfighter Integration
vision of transformation, transparency and accountability by driving out redundancies and inefficiencies.
The goals of this program are to:
• Enforce data integrity,
• Limit or eliminate data calls,
• Allow the organization to be more agile through enhanced data capture and allow on-the-fly
adjustments,
• Meet compliance and regulatory requirements,
• Provide analytics for decision making,
• Provide streamlined, shortened, standardized and automated processes,
• Centralize data,
• Help ensure the achievement of USAF capabilities.
This implementation would include all processes related to PfM. This required establishing Process
Working Groups across the USAF to standardize processes. These Working Groups included Resource
Management, Lifecycle Management, Capability Management and Compliance Management.
PfM has taken on additional weight and importance for the USAF. The introduction to the USAF 2011
Budget stated, “The strategic environment is constantly changing, requiring more flexibility to provide
the best mix of capabilities and resources to meet the Quadrennial Defense Review and Strategic Review
priorities. Interaction across the changing strategic environment creates new and evolving threats that
require innovative ways to apply forces, technologies and the resources that enable them.” This
statement points to the need for a best practice PfM process to ensure resources can be shifted as
strategy changes.
Project Scope
USAF Organization
The Working Group members for this project span across all functional areas of the Air Force. Air Force
resources include eight major commands (MAJCOMs), 37 Field Operating Agencies (FOAs), three Direct
Reporting Units (DRUs), 96 major installations, and more than 350,000 personnel total. The USAF
organization consists of the following areas:
• SAF: Secretary of the Air Force
• Air Staff: Military Advisors
• MAJCOMs: Subdivisions having a specific portion of the USAF Mission
• Aerospace: Expeditionary Task Force
• Field Units: Major Commands, Field Operating Agencies, Direct Reporting Units
• AOC: Air Operations Center

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US AF Oracle PPM Implementation
• Wings: Distinct Missions with Significant Scope
USAF Portfolio Management Process
Figure One shows how the DOD standard PPBE processes fit into the PfM lifecycle. Note that the items
in parentheses in Figure One indicate different sources and locations of data within the USAF system.
Figure 1: Air Force Portfolio Management Process Framework
The diagram above shows the major phases, inputs, outputs, and systems supporting the USAF PfM
Process. As programs are proposed, decision makers evaluate them against objective criteria established
by USAF leaders to ensure that the USAF is funding the most valuable projects. At the Select phase, the
major processes include Develop POM, Plan Execution Year and Execution Status Review. Funding
Actions are developed as programs need funding. These are prioritized according to objective criteria,
and the scores aid decision makers in determining which investments should be funded.
Process Areas
Initial Pilot – Resource Management
The SAF/CIO A6 division chose Resourcing as the first major process to pilot in ProSight. The purpose of
this pilot was to:
• Provide multi-dimensional analysis to realign funding and communicate funding needs,
• Provide financial accountability for budgets in MAJCOM accounts,

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• Provide visibility and analytical capability to decision makers by:
o Applying objective criteria to prioritize the Portfolio,
o Presenting the President’s Budget, spend plans, and actual costs within the same
database,
o Implementing the Execution Status process, analysis and reporting,
o Displaying investment justification to optimize decisions pertaining to allocation,
o Showing the impacts of changes in funding.
The Process
PPBE helps USAF achieve the best mix of forces, manpower, materiel, and support under very tight fiscal
constraint. Threat assessment defines the National Military Strategy during Planning. This determines
the resources needed to meet national objectives, supporting national security and US foreign policy
two to seven years into the future. In Programming, the fiscal, manpower and materiel requirements are
integrated with the available resources. Budget options are prioritized to create the organization’s
Program Objective Memorandum (POM) input, which establishes the future years funding position.
These inputs are submitted to HQ USAF. During Budgeting, costs are refined and submitted to the Office
of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Execution focuses on budget execution and program performance.
At a high-level, the Resourcing Process consists of four main activities:
• Manage the current year execution of SAF/XC funding through the Manage Execution Year
process,
• Develop the plan to execute next year SAF/XC funding during the Perform Execution Planning
process.
• Establish the POM, and the resulting official President’s Budget.
• Monitor Congressional activities and manage the IT budget submission.
Prior to this implementation, President’s Budget, Project Budget Allocations, Execution Planning,
Acquisitions and IT PfM information were all in separate databases. It was very difficult to obtain access
to accurate and timely information.
Achievement of the Pilot Goals
The Oracle/ Guident team set up Unfunded Request, Execution Planning, and Execution Status Reviews
in ProSight to streamline, shorten and automate these key processes. Initially, the USAF leaders required
the information to be transferred from ProSight and presented as MS PowerPoint slides, which they had
always used previously. Within a short amount of time, all information required for monthly status
reviews came directly from views within ProSight. The Status Review meetings changed from arguments
about data to the discussion of root causes of issues and clear understanding of which programs should
be funded. At a glance, USAF leaders could then see which programs were spending according to plan.
USAF leaders have developed a scoring model based on mission, strategic goals, capabilities and
compliance to determine the value of each project. During the approval process, decision makers review
the scores to help understand priorities. Decisions are based on solid objective criteria versus subjective
arguments amongst leaders with different interests and responsibilities.

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US AF Oracle PPM Implementation
Compliance Management
The USAF must comply with regulatory requirements from DOD, the Federal government and internal
mandates. Working with the USAF Compliance process owners, the Oracle team was able to implement
Compliance processes and provide views that provided key critical compliance information at a glance.
As an example, the Oracle team designed dashboards and bubble charts to display when compliance
certifications were to expire. This helped with scheduling and funding compliance activities as well as
determining the resources needed to maintain compliance.
Capabilities Management (Pilot for AF Human Systems Integration Office)
The USAF utilizes an application called The Brain to relate programs to the capabilities they support.
Within ProSight, there is now a portal that goes directly to the associated capability within The Brain for
each specific program. From there, the user can drill down further in the application. Users can do this
without leaving the ProSight application, thus providing easy access to capabilities information.
Lifecycle Management
The Air Force Human Systems Integration Office (AFHSIO) manages activities across the USAF for
integration of humans with software and hardware. AFHSIO needed to monitor these efforts and assess
risk, document program status and provide notice of upcoming Human Systems Integration (HSI)
pertinent events. AFHSIO also wanted to show the value added from HSI policy and processes. The
Oracle team built the AFHSIO Lifecycle Management process into ProSight to conduct this oversight of
activities. The Oracle/Guident team has piloted different lifecycle solutions across other MAJCOMs
while the Working Groups have progressed toward process standardization.
Process Improvements
Process Previously Improved
POM
• Data entered in Excel spreadsheets,
• Extensive training required,
• Data call system,
• Data integrity issues.
• Database,
• Guidance provided in the
application to improve the process
and lower training requirements,
• Improved data integrity.
Execution Status
Review
• Scattered Excel spreadsheets,
• Monthly data calls,
• Manual data transfer from
spreadsheets to PowerPoint,
• Data Integrity issues.
• Centralized data,
• Improved reporting to aid decision
making,
• Streamlined process.
Prioritizing • Fragmented approval process,
• No clear view of strategic
alignment,
• Complex process with little sharing
of valuable information amongst
the levels of approval.
• Objective criteria agreed upon by
USAF leaders to score projects
against their contribution to
mission, strategy, capability and
compliance,
• Streamlined process,
• Improved information for decision
makers.

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Lessons Learned
What have we learned so far on this project? As anyone would guess, standardization is difficult across a
huge organization. The members of the Working Groups already had processes in place, and some were
resistant to change. Automating, streamlining and shortening processes helped drive toward buy-in
from the Working Group members. User acceptance testing was valuable in ensuring adoption of the
application and associated processes. Thorough training and guidance were also keys to ensuring that
users felt comfortable in using a new tool. Now, the Working Groups are attempting to eliminate
stovepipes and can see the advantage of sharing knowledge to ensure best practices. The functional
groups are finding what has and has not worked in other areas of the USAF.
Results
This implementation has brought about many benefits and improvements, including:
• Streamlined, automated, standardized and shortened processes,
• Working groups brought together ideas for best practices and improved processes,
• Streamlined processes and data that gave a view of the situation across related processes:
o PfM - budgeting allocation,
o Lifecycle Management - reviewing project health to determine required action,
o Compliance Management -ensuring regulations are met,
o Capability Management – tied PfM to Enterprise Architecture and provided analytics to
ensure that USAF capabilities are met,
• Visibility into data previously difficult to obtain,
• Eliminated labor-intensive activities:
o Replaced transfer of information from databases to PowerPoint and Excel,
• Helped resolve data issues:
o Stopped arguments about data integrity and started discussion on the true value of
each program needing budget to optimize funding,
• Tied investment to strategy,
• Provided improved information for decision making:
o No gaps in the information that the decision makers need,
• Replaced legacy systems,
• Centralized data:
o Improved data integrity,
o Improved visibility and transparency.
Summary
To date, this project has been a great success. The team (USAF, contractors, Oracle and Guident
consultants) has achieved the project goals and continues to expand this solution across the Air Force.
This project addresses the need for USAF to streamline its PfM processes using Working Groups and
best practices, bringing increased efficiency to USAF PfM.

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The team will provide rollout Resource Management and IT Compliance processes built to meet specific
needs of centers within each Major Command. The team will also rollout POM to all AF Panels. The
future project plan also includes expansion of the Capability Management and Lifecycle Management
processes in OPPM.