Defense Message System
The Defense Message System or Defense Messaging System (DMS) is a deployment of secure electronic mail and directory services in the United States Department of Defense. DMS is usually operated in conjunction with DMDS (Defense Message Dissemination System), a profiling system that takes a message and forwards it, based on message criteria, to parties that are required to take action on a message. This combination has met success with the upper echelons of command, since parties do not have to wait for messaging center operators to route the messages to the proper channels for action.
DMS was intended to replace the AUTODIN network, and is based on implementations of the OSI X.400 mail, X.500 directory and X.509 public key certificates, with several extensions to meet the specific needs of military messaging. DMS has been coordinated by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), and testing began in 1995. DMS is currently in the process of being phased out by MMHS and CMS 1.0. These new programs replace the end user Fortezza cards with Domain Fortezza, a technology developed by Microsoft.
Amongst other vendors, Microsoft and IBM sell versions of their electronic mail software (Outlook/Exchange and Lotus Notes) that have been tested for compliance with DMS requirements.
Due to the bandwidth and computer equipment requirements for DMS, DMS has not seen a wide application in the field. However, the Army is currently experimenting with a version of DMS that utilizes Outlook Web Access.