U.S. Navy: Post-merger Integration Initiative

Operating with an $8.5 billion budget and a 60,000-person workforce, CNIC offers 30 services ranging from cooking food to providing facilities maintenance for 95 installations across 16 geographic regions. CNIC was established in a divestiture from eight commands.

Faced with budget constraints, the Navy decided to significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its onshore management by consolidating all shore operations into a single headquarters-based (or program-centric) organization.

When shore installation management was merged from 16 regional commands into a single program-centric organization led by a newly established headquarters office, the organization faced post-merger integration issues ranging from its immature enterprise governance model and a lack of consistent operating models to duplicate systems and data, and limited alignment among and within service programs.

The Navy chose Accenture for this major post-merger integration initiative because of our deep experience designing, building and implementing similar transformation programs throughout the private sector. CNIC knew Accenture could deliver the same results for the Navy, moving it closer to its goal of high performance.

Forming the CNI Foundation Program, Accenture worked with CNIC to standardize best business practices and methodologies across regions; improve organization alignment and decision making; identify opportunities for cost savings; improve budgetary effectiveness and prioritization; establish performance metrics and targets; and enhance communication and improve knowledge distribution across the CNIC enterprise.

Accenture not only helped identify and prioritize the opportunities but it also helped manage implementation, creating a road map and conducting spend analysis. Accenture standardized information technology and established performance measures for financial management. By collaborating closely with Navy commands as well as regional officials, Accenture was also able to ensure compliance with Navy mandates, while recognizing local budgetary constraints and program needs.

To provide seed capital for the massive transformation effort, the Accenture team identified five quick-win opportunities, with a projected business value of $60 million to $110 million over five years. The team also defined enterprise-level savings opportunities like knowledge management and competitive sourcing that are projected to result in savings amounting to $500 million to $1 billion over five years.

The U.S. Navy now has a merged organization that is more efficient and effective. With Accenture's help, the Navy is benefiting from standardized processes and improved services while saving on operating costs. The Navy has reduced overhead and streamlined information flows. With centralized information technology, the Navy has improved visibility—gaining greater access to accurate, real-time information to enable better decision making and financial management, as well as improving IT governance by better coordinating Navy Command and regional needs.

In addition to standardized operations for its 16 regions CNIC also has a solid business case to support centralized shared services for financial management. The recommended changes, once implemented, could deliver as much as $10 million annually in savings, boost the effectiveness of an array of financial transactions and, with improved access to real-time information, result in faster, better-informed decisions.