Information Technology. DOD Needs to Strengthen Management of Its Statutorily Mandated Software and System Process Improvement Efforts
Abstract
DOD is a massive and complex organization. To meet its missions, the department relies on a complex array of computer-dependent and mutually supportive organizational components, including the military departments and defense agencies. It also relies on a broad array of systems to support operations related to intelligence, surveillance, security, and sophisticated weaponry-as well as financial management and other business functions. DOD's investment in major acquisition programs, including largely software-intensive weapons systems, is expected to be about $357 billion over the next 5 years. We have designated DOD's business systems modernization and its acquisition of weapons systems as high-risk areas. The quality of the processes involved in developing and acquiring software and systems has a significant effect on the quality of the resulting products. Public and private organizations have reported significant returns on investment through improvements to these processes. For example, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) reported in 20067 that a major defense contractor implemented a process improvement program and improved its system development earned value management cost and schedule performance by 5 percent and 8 percent, while reducing cost and schedule variability by 34 percent and 50 percent, respectively. It also reported that the contractor reduced system defects by about 44 percent. Further, SEI reported that a defense software maintenance group decreased the cost of its services by an average of 27 percent and reduced its effort required to deliver test programs by 25 percents.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA505595
Entities
People
- Elena Epps
- Franklin Jackson
- Freda Paintsil
- Madhav Panwar
- Mathew Bader
- Randolph C. Hite
- Rebecca Eyler
- Sher'rie Bacon
- Tonia Johnson
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office