Test and Evaluation

DOD Has Been Slow In Improving Testing of Software-Intensive Systems Gao ID: NSIAD-93-198 September 29, 1993

Most of the Pentagon's software costs, estimated to hit $42 billion by 1995, are linked to the maintaining, upgrading, and modifying of existing computer systems. Many of today's sophisticated weapons systems cannot operate without fully functioning software. Because software mistakes can have dire, even life-threatening, consequences, software-intensive weapons systems must be thoroughly tested before production. This report discusses (1) the extent to which software problems affect the performance of weapons systems being tested, (2) pervasive barriers in the acquisition process that limit the effectiveness of test and evaluation of software-intensive systems, and (3) the Defense Department's efforts to overcome software test and evaluation problems.

GAO found that: (1) DOD software-intensive systems often fail to meet their performance expectations, experience cost overruns and schedule delays, and are not ready for OT&E because they are not subject to rigorous developmental testing and evaluation and software development is often not fully mature when OT&E begins; (2) DOD has not adequately addressed barriers that inhibit software acquisition and OT&E effectiveness; (3) DOD has not adequately addressed the importance of software development, lacks a consistent policy that defines and coordinates software maturity and operational testing readiness, has not adequately defined and managed software requirements, and lacks reliable cost, schedule, and performance data; (4) DOD has not implemented previous recommendations to ensure that quality software is adequately developed and tested and software-intensive systems are effective; (5) although the military services have tried to improve their software development processes, they lack a DOD-wide coordinated strategy; and (6) the creation of a single executive-level office for software development and testing would help to resolve long-standing software 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.

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