Manpower and Personnel Estimation Methods for Post-Deployment Software Maintenance

The goal of this project is to provide the basis for a decision support capability for project/program managers early in the systems acquisition process so they can make informed decisions to reduce life cycle costs and improve deployed system readiness. This project will apply Cognitive Work Analysis and Systems Dynamics modeling to identify and model factors, relationships and constraints available early in the acquisition process which can predict characteristics of the sustainment environment (such as costs and system readiness). The factors primarily take into consideration the cognitive demands required to operate the system and the various means to satisfy those demands such as personnel selection, manpower, training and support. Organizational mechanisms of the sustainment environment will also be considered. The sustainment predictions are used as a metric to optimize the design of the system to reduce future sustainment costs, improve deployed system readiness and plan the sustainment environment.