Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army (IPPS-A)

The Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army (IPPS-A) is a major Department of the Army initiative under Program Element 0605018A, aimed at delivering a unified, multi-component personnel and pay system for the Army's 1.1 million Soldiers. The primary goal of IPPS-A is to streamline and modernize existing Human Resources (HR) and pay systems, replacing over 120 legacy systems and instances with a single authoritative solution. This transformation is designed to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and auditability in personnel and pay procedures. It directly supports the National Defense Strategy and Congressional audit mandates.

The IPPS-A Increment II (Inc II) project is the current focus of development and deployment activities. Its objectives include the incremental release of Army Military Payroll, additional HR capabilities such as archiving, talent and strength management, and audit functions, as well as various HR enhancements. The program has already achieved full deployment of core HR and talent management capabilities across all Army components, including the Army National Guard in all 54 states and territories. This consolidation is a significant step toward achieving a single, integrated HR and pay system for the entire Army.

A key objective for FY 2026 is the migration from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) legacy infrastructure to a cloud hosting solution. This transition is intended to modernize the Army's HR and pay IT infrastructure, improve system performance, and reduce long-term costs. The cloud migration also supports the Army's goal to be audit-ready, enhances cybersecurity through zero-trust compliance, and enables faster delivery of new capabilities via an Agile software development framework. The program's adoption of the Software Acquisition Pathway and the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) 6.0 reflects a shift from traditional waterfall development to a more flexible, iterative approach.

The FY 2026 budget request supports several specific objectives. These include continued Agile software development and incremental delivery of Army Military Payroll functionality, further subsumption of 18 full and four partial legacy systems, and ongoing cloud migration activities. Funding also supports infrastructure and software upgrades, including Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) implementation to achieve zero-trust security standards. Additionally, the program will award a new Product Support and Delivery contract in 1QFY26 to ensure ongoing maintenance and system enhancements.

Within the program, several budget lines support distinct but interrelated objectives. Technical Services funding provides contractor support for systems engineering, business process design, enterprise architecture, data management, interface management, testing, cybersecurity, audit support, and training. Design, Development, and Integration funding enables the iterative design and build of HR and payroll capabilities, including support for ICAM. Network Support/Hardware Leasing maintains development environments at DISA, while Cloud Hosting and Services funding supports the migration and operation of IPPS-A in the cloud. Systems Interfaces funding ensures data integration with 65 inbound and outbound trading partners, supporting 86 total interfaces.

The acquisition strategy for IPPS-A Inc II is tailored for Defense Business Systems and emphasizes incremental capability delivery. The Army Acquisition Executive has directed the program to accelerate the delivery of Army Military Payroll and cloud migration, with payroll capabilities being delivered incrementally starting with one-time payments and progressing to Reserve Component and Active Duty payrolls. The program's contract structure includes the payroll development contract, a Solution Provider bridge contract, and an upcoming Product Support and Delivery contract to ensure continuous system improvement and legacy system retirement.