The Role of Lead System Integrator

Abstract

A SoS is most likely to attain its potential benefits if a sole entity is responsible for managing the process. In order to properly manage the risks of a SoS development, a responsible agent is needed to coordinate and manage the complex effort, provide commonality across multiple weapons platforms and ensure a common vision for the program. Responsibilities can include systems engineering, architecture development, cost estimating, element selection, and SoS validation. This function is known as SoS integration. Believing that it did not have the organic managerial capability to oversee such monumental development tasks, the government has employed private contractors, which have come to be known as Lead System Integrators (LSIs), to manage the development of selected SoS programs. Due to difficulties faced by the Coast Guard''s Deepwater SoS development, Congress prohibited the awarding of new LSI contracts, effective October 1, 2010, to firms that supply systems hardware for the SoS or perform an inherently governmental function (Congress, 2008). Despite this prohibition, the SoS integration functions performed by LSIs remain critical if the government wishes to pursue SoS engineering programs.