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GAO-19-173 1 (2019-02-25)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacsgk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: February 2019 WEAPON SYSTEM SUSTAINMENT DOD Needs to Better Capture and Report Software Sustainment Costs What GAO Found The Department of Defense (DOD) has policies and organizations to manage the sustainment of operational system software. DOD policy defines software sustainment and software maintenance activities synonymously, to comprise any activities or actions that change the software baseline, as well as modifications or upgrades that add capability or functionality. One example of such an action is the Air Force's modifying the security software on the B-52 bomber to better protect against attempted system penetration. The figure below defines the four categories of software sustainment actions. The Four Categories of Software Sustainment Actions Corrective sustainment Pe ective sustainment Adaptive sustainment Preventive sustainment activities diagnose and activities consist of activities modify software activities modify software correct software errors upgrades to software to to interface with to improve future after the software is support new capabilities changing environments maintainability or reliability. released and functionality Sou rce: DOD Instruction 4151.20, Depot Maintenance Core Capabilities Determination Process (May 4, 2018); National Institute of Standards and Technology. I GAO-19-173 DOD policies on life-cycle management of weapon systems address software sustainment, and several DOD organizations-including DOD software centers-play key roles in overseeing and managing software sustainment. DOD policy includes software maintenance as part of core logistics, and it requires the military departments to report biennially to Congress on their estimated workloads to sustain core logistics capabilities, including estimated costs of these workloads. However, while the Army and Air Force categorize and report software sustainment as part of core logistics, the Navy does not. Without the Navy's categorizing and reporting its software sustainment costs, DOD and Congress are not fully informed of the magnitude and cost of core software sustainment capability requirements. This impedes DOD's efforts to plan for a ready and controlled source of technical competence, and to budget resources in peacetime while preserving necessary surge capabilities. DOD's ability to track weapon system software sustainment costs is impeded by limitations in its collection of software cost data. First, GAO found that the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation's (CAPE) Cost and Software Data Reporting system did not collect weapon system cost data from DOD software centers. Recognizing this, CAPE directed in January 2017 that cost and software data efforts on major acquisition programs should begin to be collected from government organizations, including DOD software centers. However, CAPE acknowledges that it lacks an implementation plan to execute and monitor the requirement for these centers to submit cost and software data. Second, GAO also found that the military departments' operating and support cost systems have incomplete software sustainment cost data. DOD policy requires the military departments to collect and maintain actual operating and support costs, including software sustainment costs. Without CAPE's taking steps to prioritize obtaining complete information on operating and support costs for software sustainment, CAPE is challenged in its ability to accurately compile total program costs or provide reliable life-cycle cost estimates to DOD and Congress. __ United States Government Accountability Office

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