Reuse News Brief - 96-06-21.txt [1/1]

Reuse News Brief - 96-06-21.txt [1/1]

[ReuseIC]

Reuse News Brief
Week Ending: June 21, 1996

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SOFTWARE REUSE FACES BARRIERS IN GOVERNMENT SECTOR
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Federal Computer Week recently published an article on the 
status of software reuse within the federal government. 
"Software Reuse Faces Barriers In Government Sector," by 
Jennifer Jones discussed the need for the government to make 
fundamental management changes in order to promote reuse. 

It is necessary for agencies to determine how best to fund 
reuse programs and how to organize to get the most benefit. 
Jones reports that reuse experts identified project funding 
as a key area in which change is needed. The Air Force and 
other services are heavily promoting the concept of a 
"product line" approach to software reuse which involves 
looking for relationships between different systems that can 
be exploited by applying reusable components. It is 
important for Congress and top agency officials to turn from 
favored line-item funding methods to the product line 
approach. In the past, Jones reports, Congress has funded 
agency specific, top-to-bottom systems. This practice, 
however, defeats the purpose of reuse which is to share 
common software elements among multiple systems under 
construction within agencies.

Jones continues this comprehensive article by discussing the 
issues and obstacles that surround meeting reuse goals.

SOURCE:
Jones, Jennifer. "Software Reuse Faces Barriers In 
	Government Sector," Federal Computer Week. June 3, 
	1996: 64, 66.
 
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THE SOFTWARE REENGINEERING ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
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The ARC News summarized a recent presentation given at the 
Software Technology Conference (STC) regarding the Software 
Reengineering Assessment Handbook (SRAH) in its June 1996 
issue. The SRAH, formally titled the Reengineering Economics 
Handbook (REH), is intended to be used as guidance for 
conducting an effective and economic management assessment 
of existing software to determine whether to maintain, 
reengineer or retire that software.

The decision to reengineer existing software versus maintain 
or retire software should be based on standard criteria and 
a defined process to determine if, when and how to 
reengineer. The handbook provides documentation of a 
Software Reengineering Assessment (SRA) process including a 
cost/benefit methodology for DoD. The SRA process is 
applicable to all types and sizes of software and all levels 
of an organization for DoD and non-DoD organizations.

How to obtain a copy of the SRAH:
WWW:		http://www.stsc.hill.af..mil/-red/index.html
Internet:	FTP:/ftp.stsc.hill.af.mil/-red/

If unable to obtain a copy electronically, contact:
		Robert E. Johnson, Jr., Single Agency Manager
		ATTN: SAM-AES
		104 Boundary Drive
		Arlington, VA 22202-3700
		Phone: 703/693-2740 or DSN: 223-2740
		E-mail: johnsonro@pentagon-sam.army.mil

Note: The presentation at STC in April 1996 was given by Mr. 
Robert E. Johnson Jr., Chief, Strategic C4 Planning with the 
Single Agency Manager and Group Leader for Reuse and 
Reengineering with the Joint Group on Systems engineering; 
Mr. John Clark, Consulting Engineer with Comptek Federal 
Systems; and Mr. Michael R. Olsem, SAIC Principal 
Investigator at the U.S. Air Force Software Technology 
Support Center (STSC). The SRAH Version II is a product of 
the Joint Logistic Commanders Group on Systems Engineering.

SOURCE:
"The Software Reengineering Assessment Handbook," ARC News. 
	June 1996: 4-5.

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REUSABLE TECHNOLOGY KEY TO ROCKWELL RADIO WIN
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Reusing advanced components such as application-specific 
integrated circuits (ASICs) and multichip modules (MCMs) 
from previous military programs gave Rockwell International 
Corp. the deciding advantage over two competitors to supply 
GPS-based handheld radio/rescue beacons for downed military 
pilots, according to Military and Aerospace Electronics. 

Rockwell's Combat Survivor/Evader Locator (CSEL) is 
compatible with military communications and GPS satellites, 
but they also have a VHF/UHF terrestrial line-of-sight radio 
voice and data module to assist in the final rescue 
operations. The modular design also makes the CSELs 
reconfigurable for other applications. For commercial users, 
for example, the military satellite communications module 
could be replaced with an L- and S-band module capable of 
operating at frequencies of commercial communications 
satellites.

SOURCE:
Rhea, John. "Reusable technology key to Rockwell radio win,"  
	Military and Aerospace Electronics. May 1996: 1, 17.

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