The last time you installed a network application on your home computer, did you need a project manager and a multimillion-dollar budget? You might have set up an email client or Skype so you could chat with people on the other side of the world. In doing that, you integrated with the largest network in the world in only a few clicks. So why, to have a new tactical application, do you have to wait months, or even years, and secure a huge budget to pay several layers of contractors? By Stuart Marsden, tactical communications consultant and former British Army Major