01/06/2026 – Fairfax, VA. Concept Plus, LLC (“Concept Plus”), a mission-focused federal IT services firm, announced a key modernization milestone for the Air Force’s Comprehensive Engine Management System (CEMS), achieved just eight months after the company was awarded the $33 million CEMS sustainment and modernization contract in March 2025.

CEMS is the Air Force’s authoritative system of record for engine tracking, providing cradle-to-grave visibility of a $40B+ propulsion inventory and more than two million serialized parts. As the official Accountable Property System of Record (APSR) for Air Force engines, CEMS supports global propulsion readiness, real-time logistics, auditability, and integration with over ten DoD systems. Under its contract, Concept Plus is responsible for full lifecycle sustainment, Agile software development, cybersecurity, infrastructure evolution, data quality, and system modernization.

As part of this modernization effort, Concept Plus transitioned the CEMS Program to the Business and Enterprise Systems (BES) Directorate’s Agile Services Toolkit (BAT). Completed within the first eight months of performance, this transition strengthens Agile delivery practices, increases transparency, and improves access to data that drives operational decision making across the propulsion enterprise.

The CEMS PMO employs Agile across its core disciplines, including engineering, development, testing, functional management, financial reconciliation, and 24/7 service desk operations. To align with BES enterprise standards and improve metric-driven performance, the PMO adopted the Enhanced Agile Metrics Guide and moved its work management processes to the Atlassian platform. Working collaboratively with the CEMS PMO and BES teams, Concept Plus helped migrate roughly ten thousand tickets from the legacy system into BAT in less than two months following SLA approval. The effort included testing, user training, and full operational deployment, demonstrating strong coordination across AFLCMC organizations.

Working collaboratively with the CEMS PMO and BES teams, Concept Plus helped migrate roughly ten thousand tickets from the legacy system into BAT in less than two months following SLA approval. The effort included testing, user training, and full operational deployment, demonstrating strong coordination across AFLCMC organizations.

Since the transition, the CEMS PMO has conducted recurring Agile reviews using the full suite of BAT tools, including JIRA, JSM, Confluence, and Bitbucket. These capabilities enhance planning, collaboration, transparency, and responsiveness to the propulsion community’s needs.

“This milestone shows how quickly meaningful progress can happen when the Air Force and industry work together toward a shared modernization goal,” said Ahmad Abuzaakouk, CEO of Concept Plus. “CEMS is a mission-critical platform for propulsion readiness, and we are proud to help strengthen its agility, transparency, and long-term performance.”

Michele Bond, General Manager for Department of Defense Programs, added: “The CEMS PMO set a high bar for adopting enterprise Agile practices. Moving to the BES Agile Services Toolkit within the first year of the contract provides the PMO stronger metrics, better visibility, and a mature foundation for future modernization. Our team is honored to support this transformation.”

Concept Plus continues to bring deep expertise in secure enterprise systems, data management, cloud engineering, and Agile delivery to support CEMS modernization and the Air Force’s broader digital sustainment objectives.

About Concept Plus:

Concept Plus is an information technology solutions and services company offering deep technical expertise, with a focus on Oracle, cloud computing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and developing and modernizing mission critical enterprise systems. Leveraging deep federal IT expertise, unmatched Oracle experience, and specialized approaches, the company enables critical missions to deliver results at the speed of need.  Visit https://www.conceptplus.com for more information.

Media Inquiries: press@conceptplus.com
Follow us on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/concept-plus-llc
Concept Plus. Change with Purpose.