b'ViewpointsThose veterans who served in the defense of our nation must receive the right care with the right supplies delivered in the right quantities at the right time.Mark Newsome is the IBM Centers Healthcare Fellow and an IBM Senior Partner, Industry Leader, U.S. Federal Healthcare Consulting.Packageproved so difficult to navigate that some employeestechnologies with intentional leverage of partnerships and chose to keep inventory on paper and entered the data later. 2 ecosystems, platforms, and cyber, and front-end change management. Ecosystems are now even more essential for This challenge represents a must-prioritize businesssuccess. The vital nature of these partnershipsbetween opportunity for the agency and requires a strategy forbusiness and government, across industries, and even among information technology deployment that ensures success.perceived competitorsis the optimal path to innovate at To move from antiquated capabilities in place today to thenon-negotiable pace and scale needed to serve veterans. leading supply chain of tomorrow, this requires both mission and funding priority if an intelligent, agile, responsive supplySuccessful assimilation of these approaches, ecosystems, chain system is to be possible. It also requires a partner ethosand partnerships is critical. Those veterans who served in the to leverage market leaders and best-of-breed technologies todefense of our nation must receive the right care with the accelerate VAs supply chain transformation objectives. right supplies delivered in the right quantities at theright time. A Call to ActionAs with any sizable undertaking to deploy enterpriseThe Department of Veterans Affairs can and shouldinformation technology systems in support of improvedleverage its commercial off-the shelf (COTS) in-hand industry business or health care functions, technology is not the solesupply chain leading capabilities and vendors to deliver panacea. Decoupled from IT strategy and management,transformative VA supply chain at pace, scale, and cost front-end change management and stakeholder buy-in, andefficiencies desired of all stakeholders from Congress to investment prioritization, any technology deployment isthe Veteran served. As of June 2021, the system designed, destined to be a protracted, if not impossible effort.configured, and deployed by a strong VA programoffice supports:The call to action for VA and industry resides at the nexus of supply chain deficiency and industrys mature supply chain1.38 VA Medical Centers, VA Central Office, Office of Enterprise Asset Management, Office of the Inspector General, and more2.1.49 million assets distributed across 281,000 locations and valued over $5.2 billion3.144,000 end users who submit over 27,000 service requests per month4.Management of over 91,000 work orders (preventive, corrective, emergent) per month5.Capture and alignment of costs to work orders for 165,700 labor hours per month. 3Successfully leveraging a best of breed industry partner ecosystem ensures experienced, worldwide past performance and top talent combines to provide highest benefit to VA endeavors for an effective supply chain. 80 www.businessofgovernment.org The Business of Government'