The World Wide Military Command and Control Information System--Problems in Information Resource Management

GAO was requested to evaluate: (1) the Department of Defense's (DOD) efforts to modernize the World Wide Military Command and Control Information System (WIS), as the World Wide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) automatic data processing program is currently termed; (2) the DOD plan to modernize WIS to determine whether it provided a reasonable and systematic approach to address and resolve known problems associated with WIS; and (3) subsequent modernization efforts, including an analysis of the feasibility of allowing each command the option of developing its own computer configuration for WIS.

The evaluation of the DOD plan to modernize WIS showed that: (1) the present WIS has a limited capability to provide timely, accurate, and complete information to commanders, particularly during times of crisis; (2) current conditions dictate a need to accelerate the modernization schedule; (3) operational concepts for WIS have been inadequately developed and are so broad, general in nature, and self-evident that they make little or no contribution toward providing a foundation for resolving known problems; (4) too much emphasis is being placed on the selection of a system architecture before defining information requirements; (5) centralized management of the current WIS is necessary but unattainable; and (6) the existing state-of-the-art in computer technology makes it entirely feasible for each command to develop its own computer configuration to support its assigned missions. The DOD subsequent WIS modernization efforts are slow, do not address the fundamental issues, and will not lead to a timely responsive solution to known WIS problems.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Warren G. Reed Team: General Accounting Office: Mission Analysis and Systems Acquisition Division Phone: (202) 275-4841