Operation and Maintenance Business Information Link

In 1992, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initiated a study to assess its posture and preparedness beyond the year 2000. The Corps O&M Program Plan of Improvement found that existing data systems were not standardized, integrated, or universally available to support decentralized decision-making authority and accountability. To react or manage in a results-oriented style required engaging and mobilizing the workforce toward results-oriented performance goals, without interrupting day-to-day operations. The Corps partnered with Oregon's Department of Transportation (DOT) and PMCL to adopt and tailor a performance measurement and management system that would align with a results orientation.

Having developed and implemented a performance measurement process, the Corps then faced the need to monitor and collect the associated data. The Corps continued to work with PMCL to design and implement a solution known as the Operations and Maintenance Business Information Link (OMBIL). OMBIL architecture supports legacy system modernization and rapid delivery of accurate program execution data that is easily accessible at all organizational levels, particularly by project personnel. The three-tier architecture is designed solely on Oracle concepts and products. The information is transported into an Oracle datamart through the Corps Intranet for ultimate delivery in a graphical format for review and analysis on the user's desktop.

PMCL concluded the three-and-a-half year development of OMBIL in 1999. In addition to linking the Corps information with expenditure information from Corp of Engineers Financial Management System (CEFMS), OMBIL provides single-point data entry for day-to-day operations for the following five O&M business functions:

• Navigation
• Hydropower
• Recreation
• Environmental Stewardship
  1. Natural Resources
  2. Environmental Compliance component
• Flood Damage Reduction

In July 1998, according to direction from Corps Information Management, the Corps Regulatory program was identified for inclusion within OMBIL.

Features of OMBIL include both on-line transaction processing (OLTP) and on-line analytical processing (OLAP). Via the Corps of Engineers Automation Plan backbone, single-entry transactions are possible through the business function-specific data input forms available. Additionally, anyone in the Corps with a personal computer and access to the Intranet can access reports for all Corps business functions for analysis through the graphical user interface. Prior to OMBIL, managers had to access as many as 17 different databases to get answers to management issues. PMCL manages these disparate databases (the OMBIL data warehouse) by loading extracted data into intermediate tables that make up the OMBIL datamart.