SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PROCESS FOR MODERNIZATION OF ARMY COMPUTER SERVICES.

SEC. 345. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PROCESS FOR MODERNIZATION OF ARMY COMPUTER SERVICES. (a) Purpose of Modernization.—It is the sense of Congress that any modernization of computer services (also known as the Army Wholesale Logistics Modernization Program) of the Army Communications Electronics Command of the Army Materiel Command to replace the systems currently provided by the Logistics Systems Support Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Industrial Logistics System Center in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, should have as a primary goal the sustainment of military readiness. (b) Use of Standard Industry Integration Practices.—It is the sense of Congress that, in order to sustain readiness, any contract for the modernization of the computer services referred to in subsection (a), in addition to containing all of the requirements specified by the Secretary of the Army, should require the use of standard industry integration practices to provide further readiness risk mitigation. (c) Proposed Contractor Practices.—It is the sense of Congress that the following practices should be employed by any contractor engaged in the modernization of the computer services referred to in subsection (a) to ensure continued readiness: (1) Testing practices.—Before any proposed modernization solution is implemented, the solution should be rigorously 113 STAT. 571tested to ensure that it meets the performance requirements of the Army and all other functional requirements. At each step in the testing process, confirmation of successful test completion should be required before the contractor begins the next step of the modernization process. (2) Implementation team.—The Secretary of the Army should establish an implementation team to monitor efficiencies and effectiveness of the modernization solutions. (d) Readiness Sustainment.—It is the sense of Congress that the following additional readiness sustainment measures should be undertaken as part of the modernization of the computer services referred to in subsection (a): (1) Government oversight.—It is extremely important that the Army Materiel Command retains sufficient in-house expertise to ensure that readiness is not adversely affected by the modernization efforts and to effectively oversee contractor performance. (2) Use of contract partnering.—The Army Materiel Command should encourage partnerships with the contractor, with the primary goal of providing quality contract deliverables on time and at a reasonable price. Any such partnership agreement should constitute a mutual commitment on how the Army Materiel Command and the contractor will interact during the course of the contract, with the objective of facilitating optimum contract performance through teamwork, enhanced communications, cooperation, and good faith performance.