NextGen IT/TRIRIGA deploys at Joint Base Andrews

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Schneider
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  Thirty years ago, VHS players were the latest in technology, cell phones were the size of bricks and home computers were practically nonexistent.  It was during this era that many of the Air Force's legacy information technology systems began to take shape.

While strides in technology since then have led to rapid software advances, many of the Air Force's IT solutions have been left behind. Systems currently in use no longer meet reporting requirements and aren't cost-effective.

That all changed Nov. 2, as the Air Force Office of the Civil Engineer launched the service's enterprise-wide civil engineering IT solution, NexGen IT/TRIRIGA, at its first deployment site at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

The functional management office at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center and the program management office at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Maxwell Gunter Annex, Alabama, worked closely with subject matter experts and support contractors across all capability areas to develop the system, which will streamline operation and asset management for the CE enterprise.

"Civil engineering is implementing transformation through an asset management approach for built and natural infrastructure processes across the entire lifecycle," said Tammy O'Neill, AFCEC FMO deputy director. "NexGen IT is going to enable this transformation across our business lines through the use of TRIRIGA software, which is a commercial off-the-shelf product that's being configured to meet our well-defined and re-engineered processes across the civil engineer enterprise."

Civil engineer leaders made the decision to use TRIRIGA as the NexGen IT solution after years of corporate business process analysis.

"We are leveraging industry best practices and lessons learned from industry to enable improvements in processes and data analysis," O'Neill said. "TRIRIGA is used by several industries and other government agencies."

NexGen IT/TRIRIGA provides one authoritative source for data, improving data accuracy and reducing data duplication as it pulls together information from a wide variety of functional areas including real property, operations, energy and cost accounting to meet mandated laws, regulations and policies.

The system replaces legacy IT systems like the Interim Work Information Management System, or IWIMS, and the Automated Civil Engineer System, or ACES, modules for real property, project, housing and financial management.

By linking real property assessments with shop maintenance and capital improvements, the system supports both asset and project management.

"It (NexGen IT/TRIRIGA) will facilitate a global view of the current status of Air Force infrastructure as well as support day-to-day operations," O'Neill said.

As the first version of the system rolls out at Andrews, the FMO expects some growing pains.

"We realize the road may be bumpy in the beginning. Any IT system, no matter how much hard work has been put in, is not perfect when it is first rolled out," O'Neill said. "We are already working to implement over 100 additional functional requirements that will be released into Version 1.1 in January 2016 prior to additional installations coming on board."

Getting users adequately trained on the new systems is paramount in easing the transition, said Reggie Romo, the NexGen IT/TRIRIGA functional program manager at the AFCEC FMO.

Web-based training will be provided for six CE functional areas: cost accounting, energy management, program management, material control, work management and real property.

"The courses focus on the primary NexGen IT/TRIRIGA tasks for accomplishing CE business processes and take 12 to 16 hours to complete," Romo said.

Reference guides, produced by the training development team, will be made available to help users perform major tasks in NexGen IT/TRIRIGA.

"Joint Base Andrews is on its way to fielding NexGen IT/TRIRIGA, leading the enterprise along the CE transformation journey," said Romo.  "The functional and program management offices are on-site at JBA for the historic event leading a team of AFCEC personnel and support contractors to ensure the transition to NexGen IT/TRIRIGA goes as smoothly as possible.  More importantly, they will be there to capture lessons learned so they can be incorporated into future deployment processes."

The latest information on NexGen IT/TRIRIGA is available on the civil engineer portal.  The plan is for the system to be at full operating capability for active-duty and Air National Guard units by July 2017.

For more information, contact the AFCEC FMO at AFCEC.NexGen.IT@us.af.mil.