Expeditionary Combat Support System: Root Cause Analysis

We performed a root cause analysis on the Air Force's Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS) program, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program that has undergone a critical change due to schedule slippage. Our purpose was to find the root cause of both that schedule slip and the program's reported cost growth-although to date there is no approved baseline for this program. We visited with the sponsor at the Air Staff, the program manager, his staff, and the contractor's staff to hear their positions. We also studied all publicly available data, including quarterly reports to the Congress and the Air Force budget justification books. We found that the primary problem in this program has been a lack of government expertise on ERPs-not enough people understood what they were trying to acquire. The result of this was an acquisition that was not well suited to buying an ERP or estimating its schedule or cost.