Training with Industry positions allows Soldiers to bring back skills and experience directly tied to IPPS-A implementation.
The development of IPPS-A leverages the expertise and insights of the U.S. Army’s finest military human resources and pay professionals from across the Total Force. IPPS-A is also being built upon several cutting-edge Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) software solutions, including Oracle’s PeopleSoft, which presents a unique challenge: How does the Army quickly gain expertise and experience with PeopleSoft and other COTS software solutions?
The Training with Industry (TWI) program, through the Adjutant General branch, is addressing this challenge by embedding Soldiers with companies for one year to inculcate themselves with business processes, skills and practices that may not be inherent in military organizations. TWI participants then bring this valuable knowledge back to the Army in a two-year specific utilization tour to capitalize on their experience and help shape future operations, capabilities, doctrine and training at HRC.
Here on Team IPPS-A, TWI enables the AG Corps to develop talent and expertise in PeopleSoft software that is used by over 17,000 companies including over 400 Fortune 500 companies. In FY2017, the TWI program allocated five slots for IPPS-A personnel to gain exposure to private sector PeopleSoft, HR and talent management practices. IPPS-A personnel are currently building their skills and expertise at Navigant, United Airlines, the United Parcel Service, and Wells Fargo. TWI participants periodically participate in stakeholder reviews, user juries and other events, and to maintain their ties with the IPPS-A team while they are working in their private-sector assignments.
Several graduates are currently with the IPPS-A program. They are running Release 2 (R2) sustainment program which includes case management, defect management, training, and Military Pay error resolution management. Others are focusing on Release 3 (R3) testing, training, analytics and case management.
Building in-depth knowledge of PeopleSoft applications within our ranks has been critical as we implement IPPS-A.
