Powerful,Targeted Solutions

Many major business systems under construction by DoD are failing along one or more of the triple constraints: cost, schedule, and performance (with acceptable quality) due to their inability to satisfy the requirements of expeditionary users. The explanation for this failing is seemingly simple. Acquisition managers are either ignoring the requirements for those deployed users, they are failing to perform due diligence on the claims of commercial software vendors that their products will support expeditionary users with little impact on cost or functionality, or they are unaware of the constraints. This may occur in large part because a methodology that assessed the complicated functional and technical requirements of expeditionary users, as well as proposed solutions, did not exist.

To solve the expeditionary user problem, IR Tech was engaged to research requirements gathering and validation methodologies, model expeditionary communications architectures and develop its SAFEBETS Methodology for use by the Business Transformation Agency. The initial phase of the work resulted in a Handbook defining a repeatable SAFEBETS analysis methodology. SAFEBETS is a disciplined methodology that combines strict requirements analysis, scenario modelling, system engineering, and tactical communications skill sets to effectively manage complex information systems deployment. SAFEBETS decomposes the expeditionary access problem into distinct “Zones” of operation that explicitly define expeditionary user requirements and functions within supporting networks' constraints.

SAFEBETS produces acquisition relevant DODAF architecture products and expeditionary system recommendations. SAFEBETS is an organized approach to address performance optimization, cost avoidance and schedule management. SAFEBETS lets Program Managers identify lifecycle system deployment requirements at an early interval. User impact is on-time capability delivery that satisfies user expectations in expeditionary scenarios.

Early analysis using SAFEBETS indicates that business system program managers may achieve: Between 10%-40% system development cost avoidance; Up to 30% development schedule savings; and increase ROI up to 300% over stated development and deployment costs. The second phase of this project was a Proof of Concept where we applied SAFEBETS to an already deployed system. The Proof of Concept took the form of an audit conducted using SAFEBETS' standards, models, metrics and rules. The program that was audited is a client server based system that provides functions to over 20,000 users throughout the United States. The result of the Proof of Concept was a report on our findings, cost projections using several system development and deployment scenarios, and prioritized recommendations based on a balance between cost and capability.