Software Acquisition Management

Over the past quarter of a century, many audits and studies have been conducted by various authorities and agencies, including the Government Accountability Office and the Defense Science Board, in an attempt to explain and resolve the problems that the DoD, and by extension the Federal Government, has been encountering in acquiring software and software intensive systems that perform as expected within budget and schedule constraints. Their findings have been remarkably consistent. Basically, they all concluded that there is insufficient knowledge and skill to effectively manage the life-cycle of those systems where software plays a significant role. In part, these findings led to "Section 804" legislation that mandates that each military department and defense agency develops programs to improve the software acquisition processes of that organization. In concurrence, a joint AT&L and NII memo directed that "... improvement in the Department's capability to acquire all types of software-intensive systems is a Department-wide objective." The SAM SIA was established as the means to provide relevant and timely information, suggested best practices, lessons learned, and other resources necessary to the successful definition, development, deployment, operation, and maintenance of software components and software intensive systems.