Technology assessment and management methodology-an approach to system life sustainment and supportability enhancement

System Life Sustainment of electronic systems, especially Military Legacy Systems, have traditionally been a sequential set of processes and plans that are applied to the system based on what point of the life cycle curve the system happens to be in at any point in time. With Military systems, these processes are stretched to the limit as the life of the systems is artificially extended by the services (to as much as 30 years). Critical elements of proper life cycle management of Military systems and their associated product implementations are system integration, product replacements, upgrades, and technology insertions. Reduced Government funding and manpower levels have further emphasized the need to improve life cycle management processes. As legacy systems age, their associated sustainment costs can rise dramatically due to obsolescence, reliability and supportability problems while at the same time the performance of the system, as compared to state of the market or technology, decreases. Key decision points occur during the life cycle that will impact long term funding and performance profiles. Early detection of sustainment problems provides sufficient time for the decision making process to implement an analysis of viable alternatives and solutions. To be complete the analysis must include an evaluation of alternative sources and support concepts, technology infusion, re-engineering, commercial technology insertions and comparisons of life cycle costs. To be successful in the support and evolution of systems, programs must have a well defined approach and tool set to aid in the decision making process.