More than 300 representatives from Navy commands in 48 locations are now dialing into monthly video teleconferences hosted by the Navy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Program Office. Not the traditional meeting setting, these virtual meetings convey specific strategies, plans, and general information about implementing Navy ERP.

Navy ERP modernizes and standardizes Navy business operations for financial management, program management, equipment, supplies and maintenance.

Through these virtual meetings, site implementation teams, subject matter experts and other Navy ERP customers across the Navy come together every fourth Wednesday of each month. The participants are or will be responsible for some aspect of the system’s implementation, such as data conversion, training, change management, or deployment.

"Our customers are getting an understanding of what is coming their way from Navy ERP. They realize that we want them to be successful," said Bonnie Bowes, Navy ERP Global Implementation Team lead. "The VTCs add a personal quality to learning about the implementation of Navy ERP that other information delivery systems lack."

The March VTC, for example, covered testing strategies, the execution plan, and the schedule, and opened the floor to questions from participants. The program office also makes the brief available through a Common-Access-Card-protected folder called "Getting Started with Navy ERP," located on the Navy ERP Web site, erp.navy.mil.

"Command leaders can use these briefings as a source of information for their organizations, pull information from the briefing material, and share the information to prepare members of the workforce for the transition to Navy ERP," said Bowes.

The next "Getting Started with Navy ERP" VTC takes place at 1 p.m., May 23 and will discuss user roles, which defines the access each person needs to the system. Contact the NAVAIR Navy ERP national Implementation Team War Room, for locations at each NAVAIR site.

According to Bowes, these VTCs began as a way for us to communicate basic information about Increment 1 of the Navy’s solution and share overall strategies and plans on essential program activities. The meetings also make information available early enough so that Navy commands can consider the budgeting process, start building their onsite teams, and determine who will be responsible for Navy ERP within their organization.

"The virtual meetings continue to provide a foundational knowledge that enables those who will be users of the solution to have more detailed conversations with the Navy ERP teams," she said.

"The VTCs have fostered greater confidence with our customers in the program and in the solution, since we are sharing what they need and want to know," Bowes noted. "They see that we have an effective working plan and an organized approach to implementing that plan."

"Across the airways using the 'Getting Started' VTCs, people have begun to recognize faces and voices on the other side of the connection, putting people with the Navy ERP message. They hear vocal intonations, see facial expressions, and even network with each. And they gain an opportunity to meet other customers who must deal with similar situations as they and to build new working relationships across organizations," she explained.

-USN-