3. THE INFRASTRUCTURE
This year, the Postal Service made tremendous progress with its program to modernize, secure, and simplify the information technology infrastructure, called the Advanced Computing Environment (ACE). Many elements of our current computing environment are outdated and are no longer supported by their manufacturers. The new infrastructure is expected to reduce the costs associated with the required internal support for such systems and increase user functionality due to improved capabilities. The process of delivering ACE will be as advanced as the product itself. For example, the cumbersome installations of enterprise-wide applications on desktops will become a thing of the past, as ACE will offer web-based solutions. This method enables users to access the latest versions of applications through an Internet browser, reducing the costs affiliated with technical personnel administering updates.

In 2002, the Postal Service upgraded 75 percent of the workstations at Postal Service Headquarters; transitioned over 2,000 users to a new e-mail system, Microsoft Outlook, that has increased functionality (integrated calendar, address, and task management); and completed seventy percent of the help desk consolidation effort. When complete, 130,000 users at 38,000 postal facilities will have upgraded terminals and e-mail systems, and 85 district help desks will be consolidated into one. The Postal Service also made progress with its efforts to reduce the number of software packages and servers it uses, renegotiate contracts, and employ remote management tools, thereby reducing support costs. The ACE initiative is projected to result in savings or cost avoidances of up to $200 million over a five year period by centralizing and reducing support functions.