Watchdog Agency Report Shows Beleaguered State of U.S. Military Software Projects - colemancion1967

Public-sector ERP (endeavor resource planning) software projects historically have experient many of the industry's most dramatic cost overruns and delays, a fact that a new report by the US Government Accountability Office brings into sharp relief.

The GAO report, issued Exhibit 30, provides updates on the status of ongoing ERP projects away the U.S. Department of Defense and is a follow-up to an October 2010 GAO describe along military ERP systems. DoD officials provided updates for the new report, describing the systems' state A of Declination. 31, according to the United States Government Accounting Office. The information wasn't independently valid by GAO officials.

Many of the projects are eld hindquarters schedule and importantly over budget, including one that is expected to excruciate up virtually 10 times its first cost, reported to the report.

That drive, the Shipboard soldier Corps' Global Combat Support System, "is intended to provide the deployed warfighter with enhanced capabilities in the areas of warehousing, distribution, logistic planning, depot maintenance and landscaped asset visibility," according to the Government Accounting Office's report.

Information technology was started in September 2003 with a planned "full deployment" see of November 2009, but now there is no such date scheduled, the report states.

GCSS earlier had a cost estimate of US$126 million, but that has ballooned to $1.1 billion, according to the report.

"The increase in the life-cycle cost overestimate is primarily attributed to the difficulty of developing a branch of knowledge solution for GCSS-MC usance in a deployed environment and changes in DOD logistics policies that resulted in fielding additive requirements," it states.

Meanwhile, the USN Enterprise Resource Planning System jut was started in July 2003 with a planned windup date of commercial enterprise 2011, accordant to the report. But instantly full deployment is set for August 2022, and estimated costs are US$2.7 billion, up from the original $1.9 billion.

Navy ERP programme officials cursed those rising costs on "(1) the 2 year schedule slippage; (2) an growth in demand for on-site endure and stabilization activities; and (3) the addition of new compliance requirements, so much as evolving business endeavour architecture requirements," according to the report.

The United States Air Force's Military Combat Stomach System, which is purported to modernize the organization's supply chain and will supervene upon more than 200 legacy systems, is expected to be through in September 2022 instead of this financial year, the story adds.

Estimated costs have gone from US$3 billion to $5.2 billion. ECSS officials recently announced that two pilot programs would be scrapped and that the overall project would see a restructuring.

But other branch of knowledge ERP projects appear to be fairly on track, according to the GAO report card.

The Indiscriminate Fund Go-ahead Business System, which is "knowing to provide a transaction-driven general ledger for the Army's general investment firm," is scheduled for full deployment in July, with its anticipated costs holding unfaltering at $1.4 billion, reported to the reputation. Information technology was begun in 2004 and originally set for completion in fiscal 2011.

Overall, though, "these numbers tell a damning news report about the DoD's ERP efforts," said Michael Krigsman, CEO of consulting company Asuret and an expert on IT labor failures.

Krigsman cautioned that the report's figures may non tell the whole chronicle, noting that in a number of cases, the reported expenditures on a jut out don't seem to jibe up in a logical way with the timelines. "Clearly, detailed audits should be performed to untangle the inside information and have at the truth," atomic number 2 said.

Another expert also had a measured response to the reputation's findings.

"Cost growth and delays are equivalence for the course on projects care this and — if the unvalidated numbers can be trustworthy — some of them may be in Okay shape given the change justifications, mostly conceivably valid, that have been given," said Brooks Hilliard, a advisor and expert witness who has testified extensively in judicial proceeding involving troubled software projects, via email.

"For the most portion, the ones that seem to be in the well-nig trouble are those that were initiated five Oregon more years ago," Hilliard added. "But this doesn't necessarily mean the Obama administration projects are better or in less trouble, only that there's less info about them because they are younger and, if they are in trouble, the sponsors are more able to hide information technology."

Connected the other hand, newer ERP projects are more likely to have Web-based components, and "therefore might be less expensive, easier to supervise, and less likely to go turned track," he added.

Audits are a must if the government is thoughtful about up the success rate of ERP projects, Krigsman added. "You'd have to come back and scrutinize each send off individually to pattern out what happened then look up to across projects to get word the common threads," he said. "And so you could make changes. You nates't start from the crown and make a sweeping shift because you preceptor't love what's going on."

Validating the figures was outside the scope of the written report, which had a fairly short turnaround clock time, aforementioned Asif Khan, film director of financial management and assurance at the GAO.

"There's always a data reliability question on the Numbers we get from DoD itself," Khan said. "But these numbers are homogenous with information that was provided to us [in 2010]."

Lul, "these numbers stool show just a partial picture, not a complete picture," he added. For representative, a externalize may appear to Be on schedule, but that may be because both of the planned features weren't enforced, Khan said.

The GAO does plan to conduct audits on the DoD's ERP projects, just the timing of those efforts depends on when each of them becomes audit-ready, he aforesaid.

Questions loom over this area as healthy. In another report discharged go week, the GAO examined how carrying out issues with several militaristic ERP projects could offend the DoD's intention to achieve scrutinize readiness away 2022. DoD officials have stated that the ERP systems themselves are critical to gaining that position, according to the GAO.

Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise computer software and superior general applied science breaking news for The IDG News Serving. Chris's e-chain mail address is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/469601/watchdog_agency_report_shows_beleaguered_state_of_us_military_software_projects.html

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