National Defense University Center for Joint & Strategic Logistics

CJSL ONLINE
Introduction CJSL Online will serve as the one stop online destination for individuals and groups interested and involved in the discipline of logistics. The target audience is focused on military/government sector as well as private industry/contractors. This whitepaper briefly outlines a conceptual vision on how CJSL online should be built, development phases, applied methodology and key personnel roles. Architecture CJSL Onlines architecture will consist of an extranet, to include a public facing organizational website, and intranet component, only accessible to authorized users and will consist of three major sections: a Learning Management System (LMS), an interactive Community of Practice (CoP) and the formal logistics Body of Knowledge (BoK). The online entity, consisting of extranet and intranet components, will share a common set of core functionalities, namely, global search, user profiles, dynamic content and social media integration. Planning/Initiation Prerequisites Key planning steps are crucial to project success and ongoing value proposition. A Project Management plan must be developed to address requirements, schedule/budget/performance, personnel, communications and risk management. The plan must cover and describe all project phases in depth. Requirements for the project must be laid out before a Request for Proposal (RFP) is sent for contractor assistance on the build out. A technical framework and methodology must also be developed and to include technical approach, software/platform determination as well as hosting model. It is recommended that the following key steps be followed during each phase: Phase 1 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Develop requirements for extranet component Build CJSL online extranet component Research and document best practices for building a formal BoK Research and document technical framework and methodology Develop Project Management Plan

Phase 2 1) Develop requirements for LMS component

National Defense University Center for Joint & Strategic Logistics 2) Validate and refine Project Management Plan 3) Build and integrate LMS component Phase 3 1) Develop requirements for CoP component 2) Validate and refine Project Management Plan 3) Develop and integrate CoP component Phase 4 1) Develop requirements for BoK component 2) Validate and refine Project Management Plan 3) Develop and integrate BoK component

Personnel The Director will serve as the project sponsor and champion. The Knowledge Manager (KM), equipped with technical and project management capabilities, will serve as the technical Subject Matter Expert (SME). The KM will provide technical expertise, oversee operational activities and guide the project through end-to-end lifecycle. Under guidance from the Director, the KM will derive requirements from strategic goals. Contractor personnel will perform build out activities such as web programming, graphics design, technology implementation and documentation. The KM will provide oversight and direction for contractor work. Additional staff resources will be needed to perform BoK and CoP activities such as editing, approval and moderation of content. Technical Approach It is expected that robust and innovative technologies such as cloud computing and open source software will provide a scalable and cost-effective platform for CJSL online to effectively meet its goals and service its target audience. Open source software, alongside some commercial software development, would be sufficient to meet all the key functional requirements for the center. Utility-based cloud computing will provide a cost-effective and scalable platform for the center to grow as its content and audience engagement increases over time. Technical and business expertise in building Knowledge Management Systems (KMS), developing and implementing knowledge processes and project management experience in developing interactive/web-based systems will be crucial to CJSL onlines success.