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bd Systems provides systematic and objective System Certification to ensure the technical integrity, operability and compatibility of systems. Certification support is provided for elements of the ITW/AA System and for National Missile Defense Battle Management Command, Control and Communications (NMD BMC3), Shared Early Warning (SEW), and Theater Event System (TES). We address certification as a process, not simply an event. Our technical approach and process systematically adheres to approved certification standards and requirements using an experienced staff independent of the acquisition and development communities. We methodically examine and assess the certifiability of a change throughout the system acquisition, modification, and change life cycles from initial definition through subsequent development, test and evaluation, and turnover. bd Systems understands the critical role that effective review of plans, procedures, directives, regulations, manuals, and reports in supporting test and certification requirements. A critical part of any system is the initial requirements and design. bd Systems reviews the requirements and the design to ensure the systems will integrate with current systems and not degrade any systems in contact with the system. The requirements drive the systems specifications, engineering criteria, and design concepts. We evaluate the documentation to ensure the systems meet the original requirements and are architecturally sound. bd Systems approach strictly emphasizes timely and accurate reviews and issue resolution to ensure the documentation is correct. During our review, we ensure technical integrity requirements are met through adequate testing and compliance with current guidelines, directives, and standards. Our approach to these reviews is systematic and objective. We perform an initial survey of the document to focus on key areas. We make sure the documents fully support the system certification process. We fully support system certification by ensuring commonality of test functions between upgrades. bd Systems possesses in-depth technical understanding of various systems when the document is received. There is no time for exhaustive research of guidelines, technical documents, and standards. bd Systems has the required knowledge and expertise now. We are capable of performing detailed, accurate reviews in minimum time. Document Review Methodology. Our review of all documents to include follows the systematic process depicted. Our five-step method is described below. STEP 1. Identify and Assign Personnel to the Review. Upon receipt of the document, the Department Chief will identify the system or change being tested and its interfacing systems. He will assign a Technical Point of Contact (POC) matching knowledge and abilities to the system being tested. The Technical POC will identify a team of experts from our experienced testing staff. STEP 2. Perform the Initial Review. We survey the document, observing the format and key areas. We review all technical documentation of the specific change or system being tested. We will ensure the document comply with current guidelines, directives, and standards. This will ensure technical integrity test requirements and certification actions are supported. STEP 3. Perform the Formal Review. The formal review includes checking the total content of the document for system certification issues, technical integrity, system integration, and interoperability. Key organizations, roles, and responsibilities are included as part of our document review process. The coordination of numerous agencies and commands is required when planning any end-to-end test.
We ensure the document contains an accurate system description of the new, upgraded, or changed system. We look for a description on how the system works operationally, the missions it supports, and the system interfaces. We check that the description is correct for the architecture. We review the document and determine how the system supports the USSTRATCOM missions. These actions allow us to provide a quality assessment of the document. Our technical integrity evaluation ensures that the hardware, firmware, software, planned communications media, processing and display activity, and interface will be evaluated. We make sure the system complies with test standards. When a system change must meet engineering standards, the document must include testing the system to that standard. An example is testing for an ADCCP protocol change where N/SP-STD-1200B is the engineering standard. We use the Communications Test Unit (CTU) to test communications protocol changes. New or upgraded systems should include tests to verify that system test capabilities comply with ITW/AA-STD-3200 (to be replaced by N/SP-STD-3300). All integration testing must conform with the standard to include appropriate integration, load, and stress testing. STEP 4. Finalize Document Review Comments in a Technical Report. The responsible technical POC will compile all comments in a technical report. The comments are then coordinated between the mission areas to resolve any areas of conflict. STEP 5. Deliver Document Review Comments and Follow-up Actions. The technical report is finalized and delivered to the Government.
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