Development of a comprehensive management information system for a large R&D laboratory

This paper describes the development of a management information system (MIS), named ASTARS, for the United States Air Force Wright Laboratory. The vision of this development is to provide a corporate MIS that is user friendly, and provides decision support to all levels of Laboratory personnel. The development included the following phases: organization needs analysis, requirements definition, prototyping, system design, coding, deployment, and operations. Three aspects of the ASTARS MIS program are described: (1) system description including hardware and software aspects; (2) spiral software development process was followed, including application of the principles of total quality management (TQM), and principles of corporate information management (CIM); (3) system performance metrics are used to track operational suitability; critical success factors metrics are used to track corporate status. The ASTARS Program is currently in the initial operational phase. There are over 200 frequent users (57 are “power” users). Even in the initial operational phase, management changes have been implemented and efficiencies realized. The ASTARS Program has provided valuable insights into the operations functioning of the organization, and offers potential for significant improvements in business practices