| Summary: | The purpose of this thesis is to estimate the potential performance improvement in sustaining engineering (SE) when an Open Architecture (OA) approach to system development is used. Its basis is that in Integrated Warfare Systems (IWS) acquisition, 80% of total lifecycle costs occur during the Operation and Support phase. This statistic demonstrates the necessity of measuring how the OA approach will affect software upgrades and maintenance processes for the AEGIS IWS lifecycle. Using the OA approach, advances in distance support and monitoring and maintenance-free operating periods are possible; these advances are significant in supporting the need to reduce costs and manpower while improving performance. To estimate the potential (Return on Investment) ROI that an OA approach might enable SE in the form of software maintenance and upgrades, this thesis will apply the Knowledge Value Added (KVA) methodology to establish the baseline, "As Is," configuration of the current solutions in AEGIS. The KVA analysis will yield the ROI's and the current models for the approach to software maintenance and upgrades. Based on the assumptions of OA design for original system development, new approaches to distance and maintenance and monitoring will be explored in "To Be" solutions, and the ROIs will be estimated. The "To Be" solutions are rooted in the assumptions of MFOP and ARCI, and the results indicate that these solutions yield a potential improvement of 720% and a cost savings of $3 65,104.63 over the current methodology for just one ship. For all ships using AEGIS, ROI improves by 71,967%--with a cost savings of $2 6,543,824.56. The conclusion is that OA enables extension of these best practice approaches to AEGIS maintenance and upgrade solutions.
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