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For decades, the Pentagon has invested billions in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in pursuit of integration and auditability. The failings are clear: cost overruns, delays, frustrated users, and thirty years of failed audits. The reason for these failings is equally clear: ERP systems are structurally misaligned with the operational realities of twenty-first century warfare.
Total-Spectrum Warfare
During World War II, the United States had a “total war” mindset. General Motors and Chrysler manufactured tanks, guns, ammunition, aircraft engines, and more. IBM made rifles. Ford’s Willow Run plant became synonymous with the Arsenal of Democracy, producing bombers at a prolific rate. In essence, the civilian population and private industry were a part of the warfighting effort.
The United States has lost the concept of total war in the twenty-first century—but our enemies have not. Modern war is total-spectrum conflict: adversaries contest U.S. forces simultaneously across physical, informational, economic, and narrative domains, with technological advances further expanding the scope of the modern battlespace.
Despite these threats, how our military does business is stuck decades in the past, technologically unable to keep pace with the changing nature of war.
Read the full article on First Breakfast here.
