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Defense Computers: Management Controls Are Critical to Effective Year 2000 Testing

AIMD-99-172 Published: Jun 30, 1999. Publicly Released: Jun 30, 1999.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) efforts to integrate and coordinate its various year 2000 end-to-end test activities, focusing on whether: (1) DOD's plans recognize relationships and dependencies among these test and evaluation activities; and (2) DOD has established the management controls to ensure that its various year 2000 end-to-end test and evaluation activities are effectively integrated.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should: (1) direct the Assistant Secretary for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence to immediately implement a quality assurance program for end-to-end test and evaluation activities under the newly designated year 2000 Test Director to provide independent evaluations of test event results; and (2) reiterate to the OSD, JCS, and military service end-to-end testing principals the importance of ensuring that established end-to-end test and evaluation management controls are implemented and enforced on their respective end-to-end events, and that deviations from these controls be discussed through year 2000 reporting mechanisms.
Closed – Implemented
OSD has established a quality assurance function under the Y2K Test Director for assuring the quality of and its confidence in its end-to-end test activities. The function leverages off of and integrates several existing activities, such as DOD/IG independent audits and military service test agencies' reviews of test results, use of computer industry testing models and scanning tools, and military service and Defense agency use of independent verification and validation agents. OSD has also emphasized the importance of ensuring that end-to-end test and evaluation management controls are implemented and enforced during such forums as DOD Executive-Service Y2K Principals' meetings, Y2K synchronization meetings, Y2K Steering Committee meetings, and by disseminating related policy guidance, and has reiterated that deviations from controls are to be evaluated to determine the reason and impact on testing quality and disclosed through existing Y2K reporting mechanisms.

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Topics

Contingency plansData integrityMission critical systemsEmbedded computer systemsInformation resources managementInternal controlsSoftwareSoftware verification and validationStrategic information systems planningSystems conversionsY2K