THE SOFTWARE ADVANTAGE
represents one of the first significant efforts across the DOD to comprehensively adjust processes to align with private sector best practices. Te policy is comprised of 12 reform initiatives, target- ing processes across the entire development life cycle. Te most significant new requirements of the policy are summarized below:
1. Establish a flexible requirements process. Under the new policy, requirements for software development programs and efforts must be written at a high level, prioritized and reassessed, and refined over time based on user feedback. Tis allows requirements to change based on evolving technologies and the changing threat landscape.
2. Ensure continuous user-developer teaming. Under the new policy, users are required to be continuously involved throughout the software development life cycle through user-developer teams. Tese teams will iden- tify and prioritize requirements, determine tradeoffs of software features and assess user value. Tis ensures software solutions are iteratively developed in line with user needs.
While technology and software capabilities have advanced significantly in recent years, the Army’s processes by which software is developed and acquired have not similarly matured.
3. Tailor processes to enable agile development. Te policy requires acquisition and contracting approaches that allow for the rapid iteration of software solutions. Tis includes maximizing use of the Software Acqui- sition Pathway—the acquisition pathway designed for agile software development—alone or in conjunction with other pathways; employing contract strategies that increase flexibility and adaptability, including modu- lar contracting or multiple award contracts; and using contract types such as cost reimbursement, labor hour, incentive and/or hybrid that allow for refinement of the requirements based on the evolution of the soft- ware solution and changing user needs.
66
4. Establish a Contracting Center of Excellence for Digital Capabilities. To ensure the Army’s contract- ing strategies provide flexibility, incentivize modern development approaches and ensure vendor account- ability, the policy designates the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, as the Contracting Center of Excellence for Digital Capa- bilities. Te center will be responsible for executing select contracts and for promulgating best practices across Army contracting organizations to ensure a consistent approach.
5. Establish the Software Management and Response Team (SMART). Successful execution of software development efforts requires personnel with expertise and experience in modern software development prac- tices. To ensure this type of expertise is available at scale to support software development efforts underway across the Army, the SMART will be established within the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Te team will provide distributed support to, and conduct peer reviews of, software development efforts executed outside of the program executive offices, including those executed by Army commands, Army service component commands and other Army organizations.
6. Manage software development efforts not subject to formal acquisition oversight. Te new policy implements several new requirements to ensure the synchronization of software development efforts executed across the Army, including those executed by Army commands, Army service component commands and other Army organizations. Tis includes directing that requirements for these software efforts be reported to Army headquarters for review and prioritization, requiring these activities to be executed through select contracting organizations, and mandating enhanced reporting of the status and progress of these software efforts.
7. Streamline software test requirements. Proper test and evaluation of our software is important to ensure reliable and secure software. However, current processes often lead to duplicative testing and extended timelines. To address this, the new policy will reduce duplicative test requirements by employing test data reciprocity to the maximum extent possible. Moving forward, govern- ment testing will only be required when reliable data from other sources—such as the vendor—is not avail- able. Additionally, test requirements will be tailored based on the significance of new capabilities and/or features.
8. Modernize cybersecurity approaches. Te policy requires that current cybersecurity approaches be modernized. Tis includes complying with current DOD risk management framework to obtain an authority to operate (ATO), an approval required for
Army AL&T Magazine
Spring 2024
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124
