Expeditionary Combat Support System: Root Cause Analysis

Abstract

We performed a root cause analysis on the Air Force's Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS) program, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program that has undergone a critical change due to schedule slippage. Our purpose was to find the root cause of both that schedule slip and the program's reported cost growth-although to date there is no approved baseline for this program. We visited with the sponsor at the Air Staff, the program manager, his staff, and the contractor's staff to hear their positions. We also studied all publicly available data, including quarterly reports to the Congress and the Air Force budget justification books. We found that the primary problem in this program has been a lack of government expertise on ERPs-not enough people understood what they were trying to acquire. The result of this was an acquisition that was not well suited to buying an ERP or estimating its schedule or cost.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA571034

Entities

People

  • Benjamin S. Aronin
  • Cara L. Wolfe
  • Gregory A. Davis
  • Ji S. Byun
  • John W. Bailey
  • Patricia F. Bronson
  • Thomas P. Frazier

Organizations

  • Institute for Defense Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Business Administration
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Cost Estimates
  • Department Of Defense
  • Financial Management
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Logistics
  • Maintenance
  • Management Personnel
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Defense Acquisition Program Management