Introduction
The client is a federal defense agency.
Rose International, in partnership with other select software firms, teamed to develop an integrated solution for flight management for this agency. Rose was chosen to perform project and task management, task integration, workplan development, process mentoring and standards evaluation. Using an integrated application comprising legacy and Internet technologies, flight managers can manage critical aspects of a mission from pre-flight through post-flight stages of execution.


The Problem
Traditionally, most aspects of a mission were determined by the pilot. The management structure was often not fully aware of mission status, problems encountered or resolutions employed.


Typical problems faced were:

• Inconsistent information flow;
• Excessive cost due to over fueling;
• Late resolution of problems due to lack of visibility;
• Difficulty resolving issues due to the variety of applications required by the end-user; and
• Labor-intensive assembly of information required to be filed in preparation for a flight.

The Solution
Rose worked with software vendors to determine and provide the solutions necessary to fully support the new business processes being adopted. The system incorporates new, onboard equipment for air-to-ground communication, new communications infrastructure, software for managing missions and numerous interfaces with new or existing applications for flight plan optimization, flight plan filing and positional weather information. All of this information is consolidated at the command level in near real-time, improving decision-making uniformity and timeliness.

The system enterprise platform includes Microsoft Windows NT Servers, Oracle 8i, and iPlanet Web Servers. Rational Software Corporation and Microsoft Visual Studio development tools are integrated into the system enterprise platform to provide quick and responsive development of this secure, scalable e-business application. The system has multi-user and multi-level security access built in, as well, utilizing 128-bit encryption and SSL technology. XML is used to integrate several key applications to provide a cohesive presentation for the end-user.

The system also takes advantage of one of the newest standards in software development, Component-Based Development (CBD). CBD allows applications to be constructed from individual software components, each with its own well-defined interfaces and behavior that can be used and reused across the application. The benefits of this approach include increased productivity, improved quality and an open system design. The "open design" allows easier maintenance of core application functions by being able to modify an individual component without impact to other areas of the application. As customers' needs change and evolve, the use of CBD will allow for quick deployment of new features and enhancements.