DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
1000 NAVY PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, DC 20350-1000
18 July 2024
MEMORANDUM FOR DISTRIBUTION
Subj: STRUCTURED DIVESTMENT APPROACH
Ref: (a) SECNAV memo, The Department of Navy’s Recommitment to Operation CATTLE
DRIVE, 17 Mar 2023
(b) DON CIO Cattle Drive Playbook, 07 July 2023
(c) DON CTO memo, INVESTMENT HORIZONS CHARTS, 3 Apr 2024
(d) DON CTO memo, LEVERAGING WORLD CLASS ALIGNMENT METRICS
(WAM), 7 Mar 2024
(e) DON CTO memo, STRUCTURED PILOTING APPROACH, 26 Apr 2024
(f) DON CTO memo, STRUCTURED CHALLENGES APPROACH, 24 May 2024
1. Purpose. To share industry best practices and information to drive structured divestments in
support of accelerating modernization and transformation of Information Technology (IT)
solutions systems/environments. The Navy’s vast number of systems and applications dilutes
the focus on warfighter’s needs and therefore, we must “sunset or rationalize unneeded,
obsolete, unproductive, unsecure and un-auditable IT” capabilities as directed in reference
(a). The structured divestment approach is the execution of the Under Secretary of the Navy’s
direction to “aggressively identifying, assessing and ultimately eliminating redundant system”
in reference (a) and is the execution of Navy’s Operation Cattle Drive. Per reference (b), “the
Cattle Drive process allows for smarter investments that drive modernization across each of the
IT mission areas.”
2. Background.
a. “The proliferation of IT applications creates unnecessary complexity that hinders our
ability to achieve informational advantage” as stated in reference (a). “The objective of
Cattle Drive is to accelerate the modernization and transformation of the DON’s IT
capabilities by ensuring that decisions made to sunset unneeded, obsolete, unproductive,
and/or un-auditable IT systems or applications,” as stated in reference (b). The use of
horizon charts as described in reference (c) allows for visualizing redundant and
overlapping capabilities. The investment horizon construct provides established criteria
that PEOs may use to evaluate candidate capabilities to prioritize divestment, which is
the transition from Horizon 1 to Horizon 0 (Retire or Decommissioning) per reference
(c).
b. “Cattle Drive’s goal is not only to identify “savings” within portfolios, but to divest
resources from obsolete or duplicative capabilities and realign those resources into
systems, applications, and networks that provide modern, secure, auditable capabilities
for our Warfighters” as stated in reference (b). In addition, Cattle Drive is a means to
increase the cybersecurity of the DON’s IT networks through elimination of legacy
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
1000 NAVY PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, DC 20350-1000
systems that contain inherent cybersecurity vulnerabilities or are no longer supported by
the original developers.
c. Described below is the process for advancing capabilities across Investment Horizons.
i Advancing from Horizon 1 to Horizon 0: Horizon 1 consists of capabilities the
PEO funds while they are being utilized and sustained, thus value is being
extracted from the technology. The criteria for a capability to advance from
Horizon 1 to Horizon 0 include:
● Modern Service Delivery (MSD) compliant technology replaces legacy
technology (capability is a candidate for divestment)
● Perform Enterprise Service self-assessment.
When the criteria to advance is met, a capability moves to Horizon 0, which
consists of divestments, including enterprise-wide technology divestments
enabled by the PEO.
d. The use of World Class Alignment Metrics (WAMs), per reference (d), directly supports
making data-centric decisions and contributes to validating the movement across
Investment Horizons to include moving to Horizon 0, retire/decommission. WAMs are
the primary input to “a data-driven process to provide better visibility into our IT
portfolios, allowing for smarter investments” as demanded in reference (a).
e. Structured divestments, which is a critical element of Operation Cattle Drive, are based
on the need for accelerated modernization and transformation. Structured piloting and
structured challenges approaches are best practices that focus on rapidly injecting new
technology or capabilities. By utilizing structure piloting and challenges, organizations
can easily ensure the new technologies better aligned to warfighting needs while
rationalizing duplicative systems (reference (e) and (f)).
3. Implementation Best Practices. The DON CIO, in coordination with FM&C, will be the lead
champion for Cattle Drive across all mission areas. The following actions are best practices:
a. Leverage WAMs to enrich data-centric decision making.
b. Use Horizon Investment Charts to assess where redundant capabilities and technologies
can create Cattle Drive candidates.
c. Report divestment analysis results to DON CIO and FM&C via established Cattle
Drive governance bodies or DON CTO form posted on DON CTO Teams (Horizon 0
sub-channel). This will support knowledge sharing and identify cross-functional
opportunities for resource allocation and reinvestment.
d. When possible, redirect divestment savings to technologies compliant with Modern
Service Delivery Design Concepts that transition to enterprise services based on WAM
data. “Funds that are self-identified which can be realigned from sustaining legacy
systems and applications into expediting the delivery of modernized, secure
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
1000 NAVY PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, DC 20350-1000
e.
f.
g.
h.
capabilities” and are not intended to be harvested for offsetting shortfalls per reference
(a).
Encourage collaboration with the Science and Technology communities to prioritize
research of emerging technologies for replacing outdated legacy technologies.
Leverage and incorporate the expertise of relevant DON Deputy CIOs, U.S. Fleet
Cyber Command/U.S. TENTH Fleet or Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command
when executing activities under Cattle Drive.
Incorporate the use of Investment Horizons in IT Portfolio Divestment Strategies as a
standard practice for tracking the activities of divesting capabilities.
Submit divestment results via form posted on the DON CTO Teams channel (Horizon 0
sub-channel posting) to capture divestments not submitted via the established FMB
Cattle Drive guidance, PPBE processes, and other established policy.
4. Coordination. The DON CIO POCs for this effort is Ms. Elizabeth (Beth) Caswell,
elizabeth.d.caswell.civ@us.navy.mil [Chief Digital Innovation Officer (Acting)] and Mr.
Justin Fanelli, justin.m.fanelli.civ@us.navy.mil [Chief Technology Officer (Acting)].
Digitally signed by
FANELLI.JUSTIN FANELLI.JUSTIN.M.1244121
272
.M.1244121272 Date: 2024.07.29 16:23:27
-04'00'
__________________________
Justin M. Fanelli
Department of the Navy
Chief Technology Officer (Acting)
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OFFICE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
1000 NAVY PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, DC 20350-1000
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OFFICE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
1000 NAVY PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, DC 20350-1000
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