SOFTWARE TOOLS TO IMPROVE THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE BUYERS AND SUPPLIERS OF NON OFF-THE-SHELF SOFTWARE

AETECH, A NATIONAL LEADER IN ADA ENVIRONMENTS AND TOOLS, PROPOSES TO DESIGN AND DEVELOP A COMMERCIAL-QUALITY SOFTWARE APPLICATION COMPRISED OF SOFTWARE TOOLS WHICH WILL IMPROVE THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE BUYERS AND SUPPLIERS OF NON OFF-THE-SHELF ADA SOFTWARE. IN PHASE I, AETECH WILL PROVIDE A DETAILED SPECIFICATION OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGY WHICH WILL INCLUDE ACQUIRING, MOVING AND DISPLAYING DOCUMENTATION FROM ASSET AND OTHER DOD SOURCES, ASSISTING THE GOVERNMENT IN PROVIDING AND USING THE REUSABLE ADA SOFTWARE IN ASSET, ARID ASSISTING THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPER IN INTEGRATING THE STARS SOFTWARE ASSETS INTO BIDS FOR NEW DOD SOFTWARE. IN PHASE I, AETECH WILL ALSO DELIVER A SUBSET PROTOTYPE OF THE SYSTEM CONSISTING OF AN INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT ENTITLED THE SOFTWARE ACQUISITION AND VALUATION ENVIRONMENT (SAVE), WHICH WILL RUN ON STANDARD MILITARY MICROCOMPUTERS SUCH AS THE ZENITH Z-248, UNISYS DESKTOP III, AND THE NEW DESKTOP IV. IN PHASE 11, THE SAVE WILL BE DEVELOPED, REFINED, PRODUCTIZED AND INTEGRATED INTO THE STARS ASSET REPOSITORY IN MORGANTOWN, VA. IN OPERATIONAL PRACTICE, THIS SYSTEM SHOULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE COST OF DEVELOPING NEW SYSTEMS WITH REUSABLE ADA SOFTWARE. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF LINES OF REUSABLE ADA SOFTWARE NOW EXIST, BUT THERE IS LITTLE EVIDENCE THAT THE COST OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN REDUCED, BECAUSE NO VALUE IS PLACED ON THIS CODE IN THE ACQUISITION PROCESS. THIS SYSTEM WILL HELP MANAGERS, CONTRACT MANAGERS, AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS ACHIEVE QUICK, TANGIBLE, MEASURABLE BENEFITS FROM THE USE OF ADA.