Army's $2.7 billion cloud computing system does not work
July 05, 2011
The U.S. Army's $2.7 billion dollar cloud based computer supposed to be helping troops in Afghanistan and Iraq doesn't work and may be doing more harm than good.
Several analysts told Politico that the system "...has hurt, rather than helped, efforts to fight insurgents because it doesn’t work properly"
The system known as DCGS-A is designed to relay real-time intelligence to commanders from multiple sources to aid in their search for insurgents.
Instead, analysts say the system is unable to perform "simple analytical tasks," has trouble finding reports, and the mapping software is incompatible with the search software.
According to a former Army intelligence officer, "You couldn't share the data." And sharing data is what the computer was designed to do.
The system is also known for going off-line and frequently crashing.
The analysts, who asked their names not be used say it couldn't be any worse.
“Almost any commercial solution out there would be better,” the first said. And the second added: “It doesn’t work. It’s not providing the capabilities that they need.”
If intelligence analysts and commanders had a system that worked, he said, “I can’t comprehend the amount of success that would have happened here or could have happened here.”
Correction: 7/06/11 -- 13:40: A Northrop Grumman spokesperson says the company is developing the next generation system and is not responsible for the currently fielded version.
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