A massive Oracle ERP (enterprise-resource-planning) software project being conducted by the U.S. Air Force continues to experience difficulties, with the defense agency deciding to toss out some completed work as part of a restructuring plan that will be announced soon, according to an official communication released last week.
Dubbed the Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS), the project was started in 2005 and is supposed to replace more than 200 legacy systems. Its total estimated costs, which were originally placed at about $3 billion, have grown to more than $5 billion, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in an October 2010 report.
In October, the Air Force said it had begun a "strategic reassessment of the overall program" and was considering a number of alternatives. Those included "building on the current ERP software, leveraging other service/Defense Agency solutions, and/or modifying legacy capability," Air Force Deputy Chief Management Officer David Tillotson told lawmakers at the time.
