Software Engineering & System Assurance

About Software Engineering & System Assurance

Functions

Acquisition Program Support

SSA's top priority is providing support to acquisition programs with the objective of engaging programs early enough to provide program managers with recommendations to reduce program risk. We work with the Deputy Director for Assessments and Support (AS) to provide software engineering, system assurance, and system of systems (SoS) engineering expertise to programs. Program Support Reviews (PSRs), Nunn-McCurdy Congressional Reviews, Assessment for Operational Test Readiness (AOTRs), and Non-Advocate (NARs) are the primary means of engaging programs. This hands-on approach ensures familiarity with issues facing acquisition programs today and allows SSA to develop policy and guidance which will have a significant impact on Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition. In addition, SSA has respected experts available to provide support in specific problem areas, e.g., software costing, testing, sustainment, etc.

Systems of Systems (SoS)

As the Department of Defense (DoD) focuses on a capability portfolio approach to defining needs and developing investment approaches, there is a need for systems engineering (SE) to develop ways to support the engineering of systems of systems across an enterprise or portfolio. The challenges posed by system of systems (SoS) for SE is a topic of growing interest across the SE community in industry, academia and government. SSA is addressing these challenges through the development of a guide for SE for SoS. The guide identifies the impact of SoS on the SE process for a well defined SoS and it discusses the wider range of SoS areas (e.g., SoS cost) which further challenge the SE community to translate some of the discipline and rigor of SE for individual programs to the larger, more complex network-based SoS environments which characterize a growing component of the DoD enterprise. View the latest information on this initiative.

Software Engineering (SwE)

SSA has documented Defense software issues via its own systemic analysis efforts and extensive interaction with the Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition community and industry. SSA conducts systemic analysis by classifying and analyzing common issues, risks, lessons learned and best practices derived from the Program Support Reviews (PSRs), Nunn-McCurdy Congressional Reviews, Assessment for Operational Test Readiness (AOTRs), and Non-Advocate (NARs) which it supports. In addition, it has assessed on-going software initiatives, and performed a gap analysis to map on-going software initiatives across the Defense Acquisition Community to issues areas. As a result of these efforts, SSA has identified initiatives that require cross-DoD attention to develop or refine software engineering (SwE)-related policy and guidance as well as gaps in areas such as requirements, quality attributes, estimation, earned value management (EVM), risk identification, systems engineering (SE) and SwE integration, test, sustainment, and human capital strategy that need attention. Additional information about the activities in this area can be found within SSA Initiatives. SSA's activities in the area of SwE human capital encompass both education and training of the current and future DoD government and industry software engineering workforce as well as ensuring an understanding of SwE and its role in DoD acquisition through integration into Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) curriculum and university-level academic programs. Visit SSA Education and Training to learn more.

Process Improvement

SSA acts on behalf of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology (DUSD(A&T)) as co-sponsor, along with the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) on efforts related to the Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI) Product Suite developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. Detailed information about CMMI activities can be found under initatives; links to the latest models and guides are provided in the guidance and tools section. The Deputy Director, SSA, also represents DoD as a member of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (U.S. TAG) for Subcommittee 7 (SC7), Software and Software Engineering, of the International Organization for Standardization/ International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) Joint Technical Committee 1 (JTC1), Information Technology. SC7 develops standards that encompass processes for Life Cycle Management for software and systems engineering. Information on how to obtain copies of these standards can be found in the guidance and tools section.

System Assurance

SSA's system assurance activities are focused on development and promulgation of system assurance policy and guidance incorporating the lessons learned from the approved DoD Software Assurance Strategy, providing systems assurance guidance, enabling system assurance education and training, and facilitating software engineering (SwE) acquisition support. SSA collaborates with the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA)'s Systems Engineering Division via its System Assurance Committee and the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) as part of this function.