The Debt Deal has been “resolved” and it’s time deal with the aftermath. With the mix of caps, cuts, borrowing, ceilings, etc., sorting it out will take months, perhaps years, but one thing is very clear: Defense spending will be hit hard, to the tune of at least $350 billion, with the possibility of another $500 billion in the future if The Deal’s automatic triggers kick in.
Since 9/11, our troops have been saying goodbye to their families and putting their lives on the line on numerous fronts. The fact that development on the next critical weapon system may be stopped, production on the newest lightweight body armor may cease, or field personnel may not have access to data and information when and where they need it all because of budget cuts is simply unacceptable to me.
Now more than ever, our troops need the advantages provided by modern technology. And the DoD and its subcontractors who turn new ideas into reality need reliable, advanced solutions to drive today’s quick-turn product lifecycles. Given the global economic outlook, these technologies must not only be capable, they must also be cost effective; up, running – and working! – quickly; and able to grow and evolve with the needs of a modern military.
I talked to one defense customer that signed a deal with a “major” PLM technology vendor. The deal called for creating a single system accessible by everyone, globally, in all their programs. That was over 10 years, 10,000 licenses, and $10 million ago. Only 3% of the licensees have ever logged on and those who do deal with constant crashes and failures. And what is the vendor’s response? A new multi-million dollar proposal to achieve the same thing as the original deal. It’s ridiculous.
Now more than ever, the DoD needs to embrace open source.
Today’s open source technologies are nothing like the university projects of the past. Global enterprises around the world successfully use open source solutions to address business-critical global needs. These commercially-proven applications provide all the power of proprietary software at a fraction of the cost and with greater flexibility and more control. In a Department of Defense memo the use of open source software was encouraged for its ability to help the DoD “update its software-based capabilities faster than ever, to anticipate new threats and respond to continuously changing requirements.” This trend must continue.
Our enterprise open source approach provides all the benefits, flexibility and control of open source technology, with the security and software quality assurance government users require in COTS software. With enterprise open source, the DoD can dramatically reduce costs to meet federal requirements while continuing to modernize systems, advance innovation and give our troops the support they deserve. And that matters, now more than ever.