Encourage life cycle logisticians and product support managers to take a moment to read through the Defense Innovation Board (DIB) Software Acquisition and Practices (SWAP) draft study entitled “Software is Never Done: Refactoring the Acquisition Code for Competitive Advantage (v3.3)”, which warns that “DoD still treats software much like hardware, and misunderstands the relationship between speed and security. As a result, the vast majority of the DoD’s software takes far too long, costs far too much, and is far too brittle to be competitive in the long run. If DoD does not take steps to modernize its software acquisition and development practices, we will no longer have the best military in the world, no matter how much we invest or how talented and dedicated our armed forces may be.”

Among the “ten most important things to do (starting now!)” the board recommends “establishing new acquisition pathway(s) for software that prioritizes continuous integration and delivery of working software in a secure manner, with continuous oversight from automated analytics” as well as to “create a new appropriations category that allows (relevant types of) software to be funded as a single budget item, with no separation between RDT&E, production, and sustainment.” For a full list of their recommendations, take a look at the draft study report.

In addition, check out our recently deployed CLL 027 Introduction to DoD Software Life Cycle Management which provides the learner with information regarding the terminology, processes, policy, considerations and challenges that impact DoD software system life cycle management.