The software in AWIPS is an amalgamation of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) software, PRC-written software, and Government Furnished Software (GFS). PRC is responsible for the integration of all the different software components. Over time, each organization has developed software, which is to a large extent self-contained, with its own methods for configuration management, build, execution, and installation. Software integration is the activity of bringing these individual pieces together into an AWIPS release.
Software integration is comprised of several steps: configuration management, integration and test, and the commonly overlooked documentation. As software is brought into AWIPS, it is checked into a common configuration management and build system. Once the software is brought into a common baseline, it is built. Often, this is the first time in which all the components are built on the same system. After it is built, it is brought into the Software Integration and Test (SwIT) environment. An initial integration process occurs on the Weather Service's NHDA platform, followed by a formal SwIT at PRC.
Much of the early work in SwIT deals with getting the individual pieces
working in a new environment. Next comes the activity of making the
pieces work together on the operational platform. Issues such as upgrade
by site personnel, system stability, failover performance, and tuning
are addressed. The result of this activity is a stable release, ready
to enter the formal testing cycle, which ends with system acceptance
and the decision to deploy the release