A first look at the Navy’s new plan to drastically consolidate legacy IT networks by late 2027

The Navy and Marine Corps are poised to consolidate legacy and standalone IT networks into an enterprise information ecosystem as part of a large-scale modernization campaign that seeks to reduce the cyber attack surface, improve user experience and optimize technology investments.

In an unclassified memo viewed by DefenseScoop this week, the Navy’s Chief Information Officer Jane Rathbun unveiled this policy change and overarching plan to overhaul networks and their respective infrastructure into an integrated system that leverages enterprise IT services. 

“All shore legacy and excepted networks must transition to designated enterprise networks no later than December 31, 2027,” she wrote.

In response to questions Thursday, Rathbun said her team decided to set an absolute deadline in that timeframe because they recognize that migration can be hard, but they’re “looking for mavericks to figure out a better way to approved paths like Naval Enterprise Network (NEN) and Marine Corps Enterprise Network (MCEN) soonest.”

The CIO will process waivers on a case-by-case basis for the networks that officials determine cannot move into a designated enterprise environment due to their unique mission requirements. 

“Change is hard and not everyone will be happy that we are turning off their legacy and exception-based networks, but operational resilience is better, it’s more secure, more adaptable and users are happier and more effective — it’s time to move,” she said.

To enable the transition, network owners are directed in the memo to carry out a list of activities, including but not limited to: reviewing and updating the Pentagon’s Information Technology Portfolio Repository for the Department of the Navy’s registered networks to reflect those documented in this revamp process; completing a network assessment to map network requirements to the enterprise IT services catalog; developing a transition plan and timeline for transitioning legacy assets; and supplying a detailed breakdown for funding and resourcing their elements of the consolidation effort.

Resource-informed transition proposals for each legacy network will be evaluated by senior officials in the Navy and Marine Corps’ CIO offices to determine resource adequacy and certify the DON IT and Cyber Activity (IT/CA) budget for fiscal 2027.

“Failure to submit an executable transition plan with documentation of resources per above will result in decertification of the IT/CA budget under the cognizance of the applicable Budget Submitting Office,” Rathbun wrote in the memo.

This new policy builds on some modernization initiatives launched by the Navy during the Biden administration, and also aligns with President Donald Trump’s key priorities in his second term associated with eliminating government waste and accelerating tech-driven innovation. 

“One of the benefits of making use of world class commercial capabilities, is that we don’t need to carry around hundreds of inferior capabilities that were developed before the enterprise service existed,” Rathbun said Thursday.

She pointed to the Navy’s cloud-based office suite of tools known as FlankSpeed, and the Marine Corps’ unclassified M365 cloud environment called Hyperion, which were both recently designated as official DON enterprise IT services for messaging and collaboration.

After that, “the doors for divestment have swung wide open,” she explained.

“We now have an award-winning capability that Sailors and Marines tell us is better than their out-of-work experience for the first time in their careers. Our warfighters deserve this and more — it’s so good that they want it,” Rathbun said. “And with that, the other side of the coin is that there are a lot of old or bespoke networks that have to go.”