The Defense Information Systems Agency announced that eight defense agencies and field activities—known as DAFAs—are set to begin their migration to its updated network, DoDNet, in October as part of the Fourth Estate Network Optimization initiative, which seeks to improve user experience.
DISA said Friday six more DAFAs are expected to kick off the discovery phase by the end of 2024 as part of their transition to DoDNet.
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DoDNet Generation 2 Release 1
In June, DISA achieved initial operating capability for DoDNet Generation 2 Release 1, which launched a secure cloud environment to support DAFAs.
“With DoDNet Generation 2 Release 1, we are positioned to accelerate DAFA migrations while meeting operational and cybersecurity requirements,” said Carissa Landymore, DoDNet program manager at DISA.
DoDNet Generation 2 Release 1 comes with several features, including unified endpoint management, virtual desktop-as-a-service, network management and automation and operational support systems and observability.
“We are using a multi-phased approach to accelerate the overall migration process to DoDNet by working in parallel to deploy the networks and user endpoints,” said Landymore.
DISA expects to add 100,000 users to the network over the next 18 months. Once the deployment is complete, the agency expects DoDNet to support up to 370,000 users.
“Pre-installing equipment and updates ahead of each migration ensures a smoother and more efficient transition, as demonstrated by our recent progress,” noted Landymore.
DoDNet Sustainment and Operations Support Task Order
Since 2022, DISA has worked with Leidos to move users from legacy systems to DoDNet.
In July, Leidos received a potential $823 million task order from DISA to provide DoDNet sustainment and operations services. Under this award, the company will provide systems engineering, cybersecurity, network architecture and management and other technical services to help DISA migrate 14 more Fourth Estate DAFAs and their legacy platforms to the consolidated DoDNet environment, expanding support to over 160,000 users.
The task order was issued under the 10-year, $11.5 billion Defense Enclave Services contract awarded by DISA to the company in 2022.