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Military Embarks on Digital Transformation As Remote Workforce Changes Many Rules

Unified communications with cloud interoperability are needed for new work environments.

Unified communications is more than voice and conferencing access. It can enable agencies to embrace automation, enhance situational awareness, improve operations and business continuity, and support digital transformation and multivendor relationships as it helps ensure public safety, cybersecurity, and speed, scalability and capacity. Credit: ESB Professional/Shutterstock

The unexpected pivot to a largely remote workforce has put unprecedented pressure on communications capabilities and systems, and this pressure extends beyond voice and conference access. Government and military agencies are increasingly working to interconnect information, people and resources, but to do so efficiently, they must leverage existing unified communication solutions, platforms and processes. As agencies adapt, the goal is to ensure continued access to data through secure and reliable methods.

Unified communications are the connective tissue, but the Defense Department will have to reimagine its information technology infrastructure, according to Jerry Dotson, vice president, Avaya Public Sector, in a recent article. “The services will need to organize data and employ data analytical tools from industry to help them make sense of their data.”

Multivendor information technology environments exist, but to make them work efficiently, the DOD will need standards that ensure interoperability. It then will have to enforce those standards so that cloud to cloud services can reach across networks and drive process, according to Don Turner, senior product management, Avaya Government Solutions. “Standards enable DOD to deploy new capabilities, and scale them rapidly, with the confidence they can integrate with existing tools, platforms and devices,” he says.

DOD organizations are focused on overcoming the digital transformation challenges and in doing so, a more digital workplace is possible. An upcoming discussion of such efforts will feature Brig Gen. Lorna M. Mahlock, USMC, director, IC4, and deputy commandant for information, U.S. Marine Corps; Rear Adm. Douglas Small, USN, commander, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command; Joshua Reiter, director, Cyber Workforce and Planning, and deputy chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare; and Rear Adm. Danelle Barrett, USN (Ret.). Register for the webinar “Ensuring Mission Success & Safety in a Dispersed Work Environment: Maximizing the Power of Unified Communications (UC)” on June 10 at 11:00 a.m. EDT to participate in this conversation.