Applicability of performance assessment tools to Marine Corps Air Ground Task Force C4 System of Systems Performance Assessment

Abstract

This research focuses on the application of existing assessment tools that may be applicable to Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4) System of Systems (SoS) performance assessment efforts. An analysis of the Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity's (MCTSSA's) C4 SoS assessment approach provides a means for defining a MAGTF C4 SoS and for illustrating how that SoS is represented in the assessment environment. This provides the framework and context for follow-on examination of SoS performance metrics. The challenges with defining specific performance metrics and examination of past assessment events using those metrics provide the basis for discussion of alternative approaches and application of assessment tools specifically tailored for SoS assessment efforts. Three specific tools, i-Score, Interoperability Quotient (IQ), and Dynamic Software Architecture Visualization and Evaluation (DynSAVE), are examined. The results indicate i-Score and DynSAVE offer the greatest potential applicability to the MAGTF SoS assessment effort. In a culminating discussion, applying a multicriteria identification process to obtain a mathematical model that correlates an interoperability measure with measurable SoS performance criteria is proposed as a means of extending the i-Score model for greater applicability to SoS assessment and performance improvement efforts.