TAILORING THE MICROCOMPUTER CONFIGURATION STATUS ACCOUNTING SYSTEM FOR USE BY ISEAS AND ILO TEAMS

UNTIL RECENTLY, THE COMPLEXITY, SCOPE, AND SHEER VOLUME OF SHIP CONFIGURATION DATA MANDATED THE USE OF EXPENSIVE MAINFRAMES OR MINICOMPUTERS TO PERFORM AUTOMATED CONFIGURATION STATUS ACCOUNTING TASKS. IMP IS NOW DEVELOPING THE MICROCOMPUTER CONFIGURATION STATUS ACCOUNTING SYSTEM (MICRO-CSA) AS A LOW-COST ALTERNATIVE TO MINICOMPUTER PROCESSING AT THE NAVSEACENS. MICRO-CSA USES CD-ROM AND WORM OPTICAL DISKS TO STORE LARGE REFERENCE FILES FORMELY AVAILABLE ONLY ON MICROFICHE OR ON VERY LARGE MAGNETIC DISK DRIVES. THE NAVY'S SHIP CONFIGURATION AND LOGISTICS SUPPORT INFORMATION SYSTEM (SCLSIS) HAS EXPERIENCED NUMEROUS PROBLEMS DUE TO THE DISPARATE ADP RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO THE ACTIVITIES THAT SUPPORT IT. BECAUSE OF MICRO-CSA'S RELATIVELY LOW COST, IT IS NOW FEASIBLE TO EQUIP EVERY SCLSIS ACTIVITY WITH A MICRO-CSA SYSTEM, THUS STANDARDIZING ADP SUPPORT THROUGHOUT THE SCLSIS COMMUNITY. THE COMMITMENT OF RESOURCES AND PROGRAMMING DESIGN WOULD BE MINIMAL SINCE THIS CONCEPT IS BASED ON AN EXISTING SYSTEM.