Accenture to Install Air Force Financial Info System

Accenture Ltd. has won a six-year contract worth more than $33 million to develop and install the Air Force's first fully integrated financial information system, the company announced April 30.

The system, called the Financial Information Resource System, or FIRST, will introduce a seamless flow of budget-related information among Air Force installations around the globe.

Joining Accenture of Hamilton, Bermuda, as subcontractors for the program are NCR Corp., Dayton, Ohio; SeeBeyond Technology Corp., Monrovia, Calif.; American Management Systems Inc., Fairfax, Va.; Advanced Technology Systems, McLean, Va.; Logtec, Fairborn, Ohio; A.F. Kelley and Associates, Beaver Creek, Ohio; RGII Technologies Inc., Annapolis, Md.; Peerless Technologies Corp., Dayton; and SRA International Inc., Fairfax.

"We're looking forward to working with Accenture on FIRST, which will replace three existing budget systems at Air Force headquarters, bases and major commands worldwide," said Jerry Duke, FIRST program manager of the Air Force's Materiel Systems Group's financial information systems program office. "We expect to realize improved productivity and significantly increased financial analysis and decision support capabilities."

FIRST will offer a shared data environment with increased financial visibility, including full budget visibility and audit trails on financial processes, based upon best available commercial practices and state-of-the-art management tools for business planning, decision support and process management.

With these new tools, the Air Force anticipates improved cost modeling capabilities that will facilitate better estimates of manpower and flying hours, inflation and base operating support costs for multiple budget scenarios.

"Air Force personnel will no longer have to start from scratch, learning new systems for managing financial data whenever they transfer between Air Force installations," said Accenture partner James Trowhill. "As a result, all military branches will benefit from a shorter budget cycle and greater financial confidence."