Implications of Services-Oriented Architecture and Open Architecture Composable Systems on the Acquisition Organizations and Processes

Abstract

The US Navy is interested in acquiring systems that promote the use of Services-oriented Architecture (SOA) and Open Architecture (OA) in Integrated Warfare Systems (IWS). The number of systems required to share data and provide reliable information in weapons systems is growing. Many systems, systems-of-systems and families of systems with different software architectures are acquired and often have difficulty operating together, which causes delays, increases costs, and limits re-use. Intelligent adoption of SOA and OA may help solve integration and re-use issues in current and future acquisition programs. The commercial market is successfully beginning to implement SOA and OA in its processes and may provide examples of best practices that can be applied to the Defense Acquisition System. The goal of this thesis is to explore the feasibility of implementing SOA and OA into the Defense Acquisition System. Adoption of SOA and OA practices is not expected to completely alter the current Defense Acquisition System; instead, it is intended to alleviate some of its constraints. This thesis will focus on utilizing SOA and OA in IWS, how SOA and OA principles relate, and the effects they will have on the Defense Acquisition System's organizations and processes.