Program Wholeness in Acquisition System

Abstract

Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) is a study comprising a crucial part in the process of acquiring a new system for the DoD. AoA is a multi-dimensional decision process that involves several criteria and stakeholders. There are three sets of criteria according to which alternatives are evaluated in an AoA. In most studies, typically, two of the three sets— effectiveness criteria (what can the system do and how its capabilities fit the operational requirements) and cost criteria (acquisition and lifecycle cost)—draw most of the attention. The third set, usually given less attention in an AoA, is concerned with long-term readiness and sustainment implications. Our research focuses on this third set of criteria, and has two goals: (a) study the set of criteria related to readiness and sustainment, and define measures of effectiveness (MOEs) that help evaluate these criteria, and (b) develop an aggregation process that transforms the MOEs values of the alternatives into a single relative value. In this report we study in detail the criteria that affect the long-term viability and usefulness of an alternative, which determine readiness and sustainment, and propose an analytic framework for evaluating the relative merit of alternatives with respect to those criteria.